CHINAS 


ELLIOT 

GRIFFIS 


/O 


LiBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


Division.  DSI^S 


Section.% 

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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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l^iUiam  (0riffi0, 


BONNIE  SCOTLAND  AND  WHAT  WE  OWE  HER. 
Illustrated. 

BELGIUM:  THE  LAND  OF  ART.  Its  History,  Legends, 
Industry  and  Modem  Expansion.  Illustrated. 

CHINA’S  STORY,  IN  MYTH,  LEGEND,  ART  AND 
ANNALS.  Illustrated. 

THE  STORY  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND.  Illustrated. 

YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  HISTORY  OF  HOLLAND.  Illus- 
trated. 

BRAVE  LITTLE  HOLLAND,  AND  WHAT  SHE  TAUGHT 
US.  Illustrated.  In  Riverside  Library  for  Young  People. 
In  Riverside  School  Library.  Half  leather. 

THE  AMERICAN  IN  HOLLAND.  Sentimental  Rambliugs 
in  the  Eleven  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands.  With  a map 
and  illustrations. 

THE  PILGRIMS  IN  THEIR  THREE  HOMES,  — ENG- 
LAND, HOLLAND,  AND  AMERICA.  Illustrated.  In 
Riverside  Library  for  Young  People. 

JAPAN:  IN  HISTORY,  FOLK-LORE,  AND  ART.  In 
Riverside  Library  for  Young  People. 

MATTHEW  CALBRAITH  PERRY.  A t3rpical  American 
Naval  Othcer.  Illustrated. 

TOWNSEND  HARRIS,  First  American  Envoy  in  Japan. 
With  portrait. 

THE  LILY  AMONG  THORNS.  A Study  of  the  Biblical 
Drama  entitled  The  Song  of  Songs.  White  cloth,  gilt  top. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
Boston  and  New  York 


CHINA’S  STORY 

IN  MYTH,  LEGEND,  ART,  AND  ANNALS 


V 


ri  t 


I . 


I 


111 


PAGODA  AT  LUNG-WA 


CHINA’S  STORY 


IN  MYTH,  LEGEND,  ART,  AND  ANNALS 


BY 


/ 


WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS 

FORMERLY  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  UNIVERSITY  OF  TOKYO 


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BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
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COPYRIGHT,  IQII  AND  IQ22,  BY  WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


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PREFACE 


Herewith  I send  forth  a little  book  on  China, 
which  I trust  may  help  Asian  and  American  peo- 
ple to  understand  each  other  better.  History 
shows  that  the  human  nature  of  the  Chinese  and 
of  ourselves  is  the  same.  I have  gone  below  the 
surface,  letting  the  Chinese  speak  for  themselves, 
chiefly  through  their  myths,  folk-lore,  art,  litera- 
ture, institutions,  and  annals. 

My  initial  interest  in  China  came  through  tra- 
ditions of  my  grandfather,  one  of  the  first,  as  a 
merchant  navigator,  to  carry  the  American  flag 
to  Canton,  thence  bringing  home  pretty  curiosi- 
ties, which,  with  my  father’s  stories  of  his  many 
voyages,  provoked  a desire  to  know  more  of  the 
mighty  hermit  nation.  I visited  many  times  the 
great  Chinese  Museum  in  my  native  city,  Phila- 
delphia, formed  by  Nathan  Dunn,  an  American 
merchant  long  in  China.  There  were  life-sized 
groups  of  human  figures,  male  and  female,  pic- 
turing all  classes,  from  emperor  and  mandarins 
to  cobblers  and  beggars,  representations  of  shops 
and  crafts,  and  a varied  collection  of  genuine  ob- 
jects of  use  and  beauty,  intelligently  selected  and 
brought  from  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Two  Chinese 
gentlemen,  in  silk  and  nankeen  dress  and  bam- 


PREFACE 


• • • 

Till 

boo  hats,  explained  things.  Even  then  I longed  to 
know  more  of  what  the  Chinese  thought  and  felt, 
than  of  what  they  made,  ate,  bought,  or  sold. 
Happily,  besides  browsing  in  my  father’s  library 
and  hearing  him  tell  of  his  experiences  in  Pacific 
seas,  I had  the  pleasure,  later,  of  living,  as  pio- 
neer educator,  four  years  in  the  Far  East.  I saw 
the  Chinese  also  in  Japan  and  California,  met 
and  talked  with  scores,  possibly  hundreds,  of  men 
and  women  long  resident  in  or  coming  from  nearly 
every  part  of  China,  and  with  scholars  who  had 
spent  their  lives  in  original  research. 

The  witness  of  a single  person,  or  book,  concern- 
ing so  vast  and  varied  a land  as  China  is  worth 
but  little.  Yet  complex  as  is  its  hoary  civilization, 
the  few  leading  principles  holding  its  millions  to- 
gether are  very  simple.  Sympathy  is  the  key  to 
interpretation.  Every  age  has  had  its  ruling  ideas. 
China,  to  the  critical  student,  does  not  present 
that  picture  of  monotonous  inflexibility  which 
Occidentals  — too  often  proud  of  their  dense  ig- 
norance of  this  great  country  and  civilization  — 
conjure  up  and  apparently  delight  to  dwell  on. 

Though  in  the  course  of  years  digesting  the 
standard  and  ephemeral  works  on  China  and 
making  some  acquaintance  with  its  texts,  I have 
relied  mostly  for  help  upon  scholars  whom  I have 
known  personally,  at  home  or  in  the  Orient,  such 
as  Messrs.  Legge,  Williams,  Allen,  Macgowan, 
McCartee,  Williamson,  Martin,  Yung  Wing, 


PREFACE 


ix 


Hart,  Mayers,  Dennys,  Boss,  Holcombe,  Wilson, 
Hirth,  Pott,  Schlegel,  de  Groot,  Cordier,  Terrien 
de  la  Couperie,  and  others,  or  as  correspondents, 
— too  many  to  name,  — besides  Chinese,  Japa- 
nese, and  Korean  native  men  of  learning,  who  have 
kindly  answered  many  questions.  The  limits  of 
this  little  book  permit  only  an  outline  of  refer- 
ence, description,  and  philosophy  of  the  subject. 
My  ambition  is  to  lead  my  readers  to  the  study 
of  more  serious  works  on  China. 

The  West  has  as  much  to  learn  as  to  teach,  to 
receive  as  to  give,  from  the  Orient.  May  this  na- 
tion with  an  unexampled  past  and  the  United 
States  of  America  ever  abide  in  peace  and  friend- 
ship. 

w.  E.  a 

Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1922 

In  sending  forth  the  new  edition  of  “China’s 
Story,”  the  author  ventures  to  beg  from  his  coun- 
trymen — China’s  best  friends  — patience  with  the 
oldest  of  nations.  Having  lived  to  see  very  much 
the  same  scenes  arising  from  the  meeting  of  Orient 
and  Occident  — with  the  travail  and  the  many 
sorrows,  arising  of  necessity  during  the  rejuvena- 
tion of  Japan  and  Korea  — the  persons,  things. 


z 


PREFACE 


and  events  of  the  past  seventy  years  in  “ the  Mid- 
dle Kingdom  ” do  not  seem  so  very  different  in 
any  one  case  from  the  others.  Nor  should  we  de- 
spair of  China’s  redemption  in  time  from  super- 
stition and  disorganization,  with  the  tangles  of 
warring  factions,  and  the  old  forms  of  darkness 
and  delusion. 

One  of  the  trustworthy  signs  of  a new  life  in 
these  three  great  nations  is  that  of  the  growing 
pains  caused  by  a new  consciousness  of  brother- 
hood with  all  the  world.  This  is  seen  in  a sensi- 
tiveness unknown  of  old.  Each  people  is  now  jeal- 
ous of  the  praise  or  blame  bestowed  on  any  one  of 
them  by  Americans,  and  all  seek  this  Yankee 
nation’s  help  and  favor.  Let  us  Occidentals  give 
them  time  for  adjustment  to  new  conditions  and 
deliverance  from  bad  precedents  and  examples. 
Let  our  first  President’s  hope,  expressed  in  his 
Farewell  Address,  that  the  blessings  which  we  en- 
joy may  be  shared  to  and  by  others,  be  fulfilled. 
To  this  end  American  traditions,  reinforced  by 
the  Washington  Conference  of  1922,  point. 


Pdlaski,  N.Y. 


W.  E.  G. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Primeval  China 1 

II.  Oriental  and  Occidental  Civilization  11 

III.  Who  and  Whence? 22 

IV.  The  Tartars 33 

V.  About  the  Beginning  of  Things  . . 43 

VI.  The  Evolution  of  Government  . . 58 

VII.  The  Feudal  System 69 

VIII.  China  Unified  : the  Great  Wall  . 82 

IX.  The  Empire  and  the  Northern  Bar- 
barians   98 

X.  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  Dynasties  . . 108 

XI.  The  Era  of  Printing  and  Literature  121 

XII.  China’s  Experiment  in  Socialism  . . 135 

XIII.  China  Invaded  by  the  Mongols  . 146 

XIV.  What  the  Mongols  did  for  China  . 156 

XV.  The  Ming  Emperors  ....  167 

XVI.  The  Manchus  and  Europeans  . . 179 

XVII.  East  and  West  in  Conflict  . . 189 

XVIII.  Tai  Pings  and  Trade  War  . 


. 198 


CONTENTS 


xii 

XIX.  The  Arrow  and  Flowery  Flag  . . 206 

XX.  Peace  under  Heaven  ....  220 

XXI.  Japan,  Korea,  and  Dual  Sovereignty  229 

XXII.  Old  Dogmas  blown  to  Atoms  . . . 241 

XXIII.  The  Boxer  Riots 255 

XXIV.  The  Allies  make  War  on  China  . . 265 

XXV.  The  Russo-Japanese  War  : its  Results  275 

XXVI.  Awakened  China 279 

XXVII.  China:  A Republic  ....  291 

Outline  of  Chronology 307 

Index 311 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Pagoda  at  Lung-wa  ....  Frontispiece 

Gorge  leading  to  Jin  Fu  San  . . . .24 

Monolith  Sculpture,  Ming  Tombs  ...  30 

Circular  House,  inhabited  by  the  Members  of 
ONE  Clan  . . 62 

Porcelain  Plate 90 

The  carp  becoming  a dragon 

Wind  Box  Gorge,  showing  Rock  Strata  . lOG 
Rock  Sculptured  by  the  Buddhists  . . . 12G 

Fishing  Village  in  Fukien  Province  . . 130 

Winter  in  North  China 144 

A Mongol  Encampment 15G 

Memorial  Avenue,  Ming  Tombs  (Elephants)  . 168 
A Chinese  Family  in  Szechuen  . . . 190 

Basket-chair  and  Matting  Shop  . . . 200 

A Shop  in  Canton 214 

Most  of  the  Chinese  in  the  United  States  come  from 
Canton 

Rear  Admiral  Louis  Kempff,  U.  S.  N.  . . 266 

Yuan  Shi  Kai 

Li  Hung  Chang’s  successor 


. 280 


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CHINA’S  STORY 


CHAPTER  I 

PRIMEVAL  CHINA 

China  is  the  oldest  living  nation  in  the  world. 
Of  all  in  the  human  family,  her  people  have  the 
longest  story.  To-day  China  is  like  an  elderly 
gentleman,  hale  and  hearty,  despite  his  years,  not 
liking  to  change  and  yet  ready  for  new  things. 
The  danger  is  now  that  he  may  go  too  fast. 

A wrinkled  old  man  does  not  look  like  the  rosy 
infant  he  once  was.  Yet  “ the  child  is  father  of 
the  man.”  In  going  back  four  thousand  years,  we 
must  not  expect  to  find  anything  like  the  Chinese 
Empire  of  to-day.  In  size,  population,  manner  of 
life,  likes  and  dislikes,  hopes  and  fears,  the  China 
of  youth  will  not  resemble  the  mighty  nation  of 
the  twentieth  century.  There  have  been  changes 
in  food,  dress,  style  of  houses,  government,  and 
in  religion,  philosophy,  belief,  and  opinions.  China 
is  neither  inscrutable  nor  in  a state  of  arrested 
development. 

We  shall  study  each  age  during  the  many  dy- 
nasties, so  as  to  distinguish  the  features  of  a 
society  based  always  on  land  and  labor,  but  ever 


2 


CHINA’S  STORY 


developing  with  new  inventions.  Its  great  men 
and  women,  the  novelties  and  characteristics  of 
the  times,  the  amusements  and  tastes  of  each  era 
will  be  noted.  We  shall  see  that  those  things 
which  we  have  always  associated-  in  our  minds 
with  China  did  not  come  all  at  once.  The  oldest 
of  them  were  at  one  time  new.  Their  introduction 
brought  delightful  surprise  to  those  who  liked  and 
disgust  to  those  who  disliked  them.  In  China,  as 
in  Europe,  new  things  were  always  opposed  by 
those  who  thought  them  harmful,  and  were  wel- 
comed by  those  who  voted  them  good. 

Chinese  civilization,  which  seems  to-day  so 
fixed,  and  which  our  people  imagine  has  always 
been  very  much  the  same  as  it  is  now,  is  in  reality 
an  affair  of  long  and  slow  evolution.  Not  more 
different  in  their  appearance  to-day  from  their 
humble  beginnings  ages  ago  are  the  luscious 
peach,  the  splendid  rose,  the  race-horse,  the  latest 
triumphs  of  science  — yes,  even  our  men  and  wo- 
men— than  are  the  Chinese  gentleman  and  lady 
from  their  savage  originals.  The  world  of  experi- 
ence and  the  outlook  of  fortieth-century  China  are 
vastly  other  than  those  of  her  cradle  days.  In  the 
far-off  beginning  of  things  Chinese  there  were  no 
rice,  wheat,  oats,  silk,  cotton,  tea,  paper,  porcelain, 
pagodas,  priests,  temples,  idols,  letters,  writing, 
books,  jade,  ivory,  kites,  falconry,  cormorant  fish- 
ing, fire-crackers,  or  coins  with  a square  hole  in 
the  middle.  Then  the  men  did  not  wear  queues, 


PRIMEVAL  CHINA 


3 


nor  did  the  women  bind  their  feet  to  make  them 
small.  There  was  then  no  Buddhism,  and  very 
little  folk-lore  or  legend.  There  was  even  a time, 
farther  back,  when  the  people  knew  nothing  of 
fire,  woven  clothing,  houses,  medicine,  domestic 
animals,  musical  instruments,  the  institution  of 
marriage,  or  the  measurement  of  time.  The  na- 
tives were  savages  as  wild  as  were  our  own  far-ojff 
ancestors  in  the  caves  of  the  geological  ages. 
Then,  instead  of  being  full  of  tilled  fields,  tea- 
gardens,  towns,  and  villages,  China  was  one  vast 
forest,  with  swamps  tenanted  by  ferocious  wild 
beasts. 

The  originals  of  the  fantastic  creatures  now 
known  only  in  mythology  or  fairyland  then  lived 
on  the  earth  with  the  men  who  were  the  distant 
fathers  of  the  Chinese  people.  Making  allowance 
for  what  myth-makers  and  artists  have  done  to 
change  or  embellish  the  reality,  some  of  the  so- 
called  “ mythical  monsters  ’’  were  once  as  real  as 
are  elephants  and  gorillas.  Chinese  wonder-tales 
contain  little  more  of  exaggeration  than  do  those 
of  our  own  forbears.  Nor  are  the  beliefs  of  the 
common  people,  in  Canton  and  Mukden,  one 
whit  more  absurd  than  those  of  our  own  fore- 
fathers. 

Science  and  the  sure  witness  of  writing,  art, 
architecture,  customs,  and  traditions,  when  criti- 
cally studied,  show  that  the  Chinese  have  followed 
the  course  of  nature.  The  great  has  developed  out 


4 


CHINA’S  STORY 


of  the  little,  according  to  the  divine  formula  of 
seed,  blade,  and  ear.  Nevertheless,  most  Chinese 
writers  still  follow  the  fashions  of  an  earlier  world 
of  thought  and  ways  of  reasoning.  They  tell  us 
that  the  golden  age  was  in  the  unmeasured  seons 
of  the  past.  They  place  the  best  time  of  the  world 
millions  of  years  back,  in  the  interval  between  the 
beginnings  of  heaven  and  earth  and  the  coming 
of  Fu  Hi,  whom  they  honor  as  their  own  great 
civilizer.  To  them  the  past  is  more  honorable  than 
the  modern  age.  In  it  lived  holy  and  semi-divine 
beings. 

Entering  Chinese  temples,  we  discern  both  the 
first  heavenly  beings  and  the  initial  human  makers 
of  society,  and  are  at  once  struck  with  the  peculi- 
arities of  native  art.  Naturally  these  first  men  are 
Chinese,  to  all  appearances.  Their  expression, 
style  of  hair  and  headdress,  their  jewels  and  orna- 
ments, the  fashion  of  their  clothes  and  boots  are 
not  what  we  should  give  to  our  ancestors. 

Yet  we  are  like  the  Chinese.  Although  we  do 
not  dress  our  Adam  and  Eve  in  anything  but  fig 
leaves,  we  make  them  in  their  faces  look  like 
people  we  meet  on  Broadway.  The  first  man  and 
woman  would  be  represented  with  different  color 
of  skin,  according  as  an  American,  an  Indian,  or 
a Mongol  should  picture  them.  So  in  Chinese  art 
there  are  “ Jewel  Lords,”  the  “ Three  Pure  Ones,” 
and  Panku,  the  first  man,  besides  the  “ god  ” of 
tides,  of  war,  of  agriculture,  etc.,  who  have  faces. 


PRIMEVAL  CHINA 


5 


dress,  and  posture  according  to  Chinese  taste  and 
propriety. 

In  a word,  the  Chinese  do  no  more  than  do  we 
with  our  far-off  ancestors,  heroes,  saints,  and 
mighty  folk,  whom  we  idealize  as  if  they  lived  in 
London,  Boston,  or  Chicago.  When  we  under- 
stand the  artist’s  method  of  representing  faces, 
dress,  drapery,  clouds,  trees,  mountains,  water, 
bridges,  and  whatever  goes  into  the  making  of  a 
picture,  whether  Chinese  or  European,  we  soon 
learn  what  ideas  he  would  convey.  We  make  a 
difference  between  what  is  real,  or  supposed  to  be 
real,  and  what  is  imaginary.  We  soon  note  what 
the  painter  or  sculptor  has  added  for  effect,  or  to 
heighten  interest,  to  give  local  color,  or  to  make 
what  he  thinks  will  suit  the  taste  of  his  patrons 
and  give  us  something  pretty  or  popular.  Myths 
and  fairy  tales  usually  keep  in  what  is  pleasant 
and  leave  out  what  is  disagreeable.  This  is  art  — 
the  praise  of  life. 

The  Chinese  have,  therefore,  little  trouble  in 
comprehending  their  own  pictures,  nor  need  we 
have,  when  we  know  the  mind  and  method  of  the 
artists  in  Nanking  or  Amoy.  By  patiently  study- 
ing Oriental  art  we  learn  much  and  enjoy  a great 
deal,  beside  getting  truth  and  understanding  his- 
tory much  more  clearly.  Such  a method,  with 
text,  picture,  inscription,  architecture,  games, 
plays,  and  customs,  is  more  satisfactory  than  read- 
ing newspapers  or  accepting  what  foreigners  have 


6 


CHINA’S  STORY 


guessed  at.  Such  a plan  we  try  to  follow  in  this 
little  book. 

In  telling  the  story  of  the  oldest  nation,  it  is 
not  at  all  necessary  to  use  many  Chinese  names 
or  words.  These  sound  uncouth  to  us,  because  in 
our  minds  they  have  no  meaning  or  association  of 
ideas.  Only  by  turning  Kung  Fu  Tse  — that  is, 
the  learned  Professor  Kung  — and  the  name  of 
his  pupil  Meng  Tse  into  Latin,  do  “ Confucius  ” 
and  “Mencius  ” sound  familiar  to  our  ears.  We 
can  tell  the  story  of  China  better  in  simple  Eng- 
lish than  by  appearing  learned  in  the  use  of  odd 
terms  and  many  dates. 

The  Chinese  are  just  as  human  as  we  are.  They 
are  moved  by  the  same  feelings  and  stirred  by  the 
same  passions.  It  is  not  his  curious  dress,  long 
queue,  shaven  forehead,  or  heelless  velvet  shoes 
that  make  a Chinaman.  Nor  do  bound  feet,  wob- 
bly slippers  with  the  toes  turned  up,  and  loose 
clothes,  that  are  purposely  made  so  as  to  hide  the 
marks  of  sex,  make  a Chinese  woman.  Neither 
will  mills  and  machine-shops,  telephones,  railways, 
aeroplanes,  automobiles,  or  steel  battleships  make 
any  difference  in  the  deviltry  or  sainthood  of 
China.  A native  would  be  still  Chinese  even  if  he 
adopted  all  our  customs,  fashions,  manners,  in- 
ventions, and  varieties  of  religion.  The  real  man 
and  woman  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  can  be  fully 
described  in  English. 

In  the  past  these  people  taught  us  a great  many 


PRIMEVAL  CHINA 


7 


things,  some  of  them  so  long  ago  that  we  have 
forgotten  how  they  came  to  us.  The  Chinese  have 
probably  invented  and  originated  more  than  any 
other  people  with  whose  history  we  are  acquainted. 
The  civilization  of  China  is  her  own,  while  ours 
is  only  a new  edition,  revised  and  corrected,  of 
former  civilizations. 

The  names  of  this  long-lived  empire  and  grand- 
mother of  many  nations,  historically  the  oldest 
State  in  the  world,  are  numerous  and  suggest- 
ive. Her  own  people  do  not  know  or  use  the 
term  China,  or  Chinese,  yet  this  name  occurs  in 
the  ancient  books  of  India.  Isaiah  knew  of  “ the 
land  of  Sinim.”  Of  native  names  the  most  com- 
mon, perhaps,  means  the  Middle  Kingdom,  or  the 
Central  Empire,  or  the  Central  Flowery  Land  — 
that  is,  the  civilized  country  surrounded  by  pupil 
and  vassal  nations.  All  other  countries  lie  on  the 
edge  of  the  map,  while  China  fills  the  page.  Dis- 
tant nations  look  like  microbes,  or  parasites.  “ All 
under  Heaven  ” means  the  Chinese  Empire.  It  is 
often  seen  on  bank-notes. 

This  method  of  atlas-making  is  not  so  very  dif- 
ferent from  our  own.  We  often  give  a page  to  one 
State,  or  even  a county,  and  then  in  a similar 
space  we  represent  all  the  Chinas.  The  empire 
holding  one  fourth  of  the  human  race  is  squeezed 
into  a space  that  one  could  cover  with  a teacup, 
while  Japan  looks  like  a caterpillar. 

Among  the  names  which  the  natives  themselves 


8 


CHINA’S  STORY 


do  not  use,  but  are  known  in  Europe,  several 
forms  of  this  word  being  found  in  the  Bible,  is 
Seres,  meaning  silk.  Sinae  menus  “ the  Chinas,” 
having  the  idea  of  plurality,  or  of  many  countries. 
In  Russia,  Khitai  or  Khata  became  “Cathay,” 
with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  Tennyson  has 
said,  “ Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a cycle 
of  Cathay.”  By  this  he  meant  a long,  indefinite 
period  without  change. 

Another  name  is  Heavenly  Dynasty,  which 
some  foreigners  have  translated  Celestial  Empire, 
but  the  odd  term  “ Celestials  ” is  not  a native 
idea.  The  official  name,  used  in  Japan,  as  in 
China,  means  the  Country  Ruled  by  a Line  of 
Rulers  of  Heavenly  Origin.  This  notion  is  not 
exclusively  Chinese.  Europeans  long  believed  that 
czars,  emperors,  and  other  rulers  enjoy  the  special 
grace  of  the  Deity,  because  of  their  form  of  gov- 
ernment, teaching  this  as  religious  truth.  As  the 
Tang  Dynasty  (a.  d.  618-905)  was  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  in  history,  and  very  brilliant,  a 
common  name  for  China  is  the  Hills  (or  the 
country)  of  Tang. 

No  one  can  understand  China  unless  he  knows 
the  variation,  in  features  and  limbs,  ideas  and 
speech,  mind  and  body,  between  the  northern  and 
the  southern  Chinese.  They  are  quite  as  different 
as  are  English  and  Scotch.  Only  the  southern 
Chinamen  have  thus  far  gone  abroad  in  large 
numbers.  In  the  south  the  people  call  themselves 


PRIMEVAL  CHINA 


9 


the  Men  of  Tang,  while  in  the  north  their  favorite 
title  is  the  Men  of  Han,  after  the  famous  dynasty 
B.  c.  206-220  A.  The  people  also  speak  of  them- 
selves as  the’  Blatk-haired  Race,  or  the  Sons  of 
Han.  Their  beloved  home,  in  contrast  with  the 
outlying  lands,  is  the  Central  Flowery  Land.  For 
the  Country  of  the  Hundred  Families  they  get 
very  homesick  when  abroad.  When  in  a mood 
like  that  suggested  by  our  “ Hail  Columbia,”  or 
Fourth  of  July,  the  Chinaman  talks  of  the  glo- 
rious Plia,  an  ancient  dynasty.  With  loyal  spirit, 
in  order  to  compliment  the  present  or  Tsin  (Pure) 
dynasty  in  Peking,  they  call  their  country  the 
Great  Pure  Kingdom. 

There  are  pious  ways  of  speaking  of  China  from 
a religious  or  exalted  point  of  view.  The  Bud- 
dhists, who  came  from  India,  call  it  by  the  Hindoo 
name  the  Land  of  Dawn.  The  Mahometans,  who 
entered  from  the  West,  speak  of  the  Land  of  the 
East.  When  we  want  a Latin  adjective  meaning 
Chinese,  we  call  the  mixed  writing  common  in 
Japan,  Sinico- Japanese,  and  the  peoples  which 
have  received  Chinese  culture  the  Sinitic  nations. 
A man  who  is  familiar  with  the  Lingua  Sinica, 
or  Chinese  language,  is  a sinologue,  because 
learned  in  the  wonderful  script  that  the  average 
American  sees  only  on  tea-boxes  or  in  “ China- 
town ” of  New  York  or  San  Francisco. 

Nevertheless,  Chinese  characters,  which  speak 
to  the  eye,  can  be  just  as  well  used  to  write  Eng- 


10 


CHINA’S  STORY 


lish  or  German  as  to  express  native  thought. 
China  has  no  alphabet  based  on  sound,  nor  a syl- 
labary like  the  J apanese  or  Ethiopic.  Her  writing 
consists  of  ideographs,  which  were  once  pictures 
of  the  objects  represented,  to  which  a sound  was 
attached,  so  that  the  characters  represent  things 
or  stand  for  words  in  themselves.  Speaking  to  the 
eye,  the  Chinese  written  language  is  the  richest  in 
the  world.  It  means  even  more  in  sight  than  in 
sound.  There  are  no  ideas  in  science,  philosophy, 
or  invention  that  cannot  be  expressed  in  Chinese 
script. 

Let  us,  then,  study  China,  allowing  the  Chinese 
as  far  as  possible  to  speak  for  themselves. 


CHAPTER  II 


ORIENTAL  AND  OCCIDENTAL  CIVILIZATION 

In  the  evolution  of  Eastern  and  Western  civil- 
ization there  is  a notable  difference.  Chinese  so- 
ciety is  like  a mighty  boulder.  From  its  unknown 
rock-bed,  after  separation  and  movement  in  roll- 
ing down  the  stream  of  ages  of  experience,  it  took 
long  ago  the  shape  which  it  still  retains. 

In  contrast,  the  younger  European  civilization 
is  more  like  a piece  of  conglomerate  rock,  in  which 
many  diverse  elements  have  been  fused,  or  forced 
by  pressure  into  something  like  unity.  The  Chi- 
nese have  had  many  forms  of  government  and  vast 
social,  industrial,  religious,  and  political  experi- 
ence. China  is  the  old  man  among  nations,  and  we 
younger  ones  may  well  apply  our  own  proverb 
concerning  fools,  and  about  what  young  men  think 
and  old  men  know. 

China’s  longevity  explains  why  the  average 
Chinaman  is  not  interested  in  novelties.  He  is  not 
curious  to  know  about  other  kinds  of  men  and 
countries.  He  refuses  to  accept  or  be  excited  by 
what  he  hears.  His  many  and  long  trials  of  things 
good  and  bad  make  him  cautious.  He  does  not 
argue  concerning  cause  and  effect  in  quite  the  way 
we  do.  He  does  not  enjoy  answering  the  kind  of 


12 


CHINA’S  STORY 


queries  that  we  put  to  him.  They  seem  to  him  to 
be  jokes  or  conundrums.  To  the  ordinary  native, 
most  questions  are  settled.  What  he  prefers  or 
follows  to-day  is  according  to  the  wdsdom  of  ages. 
His  etiquette  represents  the  sum  total  of  all  past 
history.  It  does  not  seem  wise  to  him  to  change 
the  old  methods,  or  to  introduce  new  fashions. 

Our  Chinese  friend,  while  right  in  his  reasoning, 
is  likely  to  lose  much,  if,  living  in  the  present  age 
of  the  world,  he  does  not  become  more  social  and 
avail  himself  of  the  resources  and  advantages  pos- 
sessed by  his  fellows  of  other  nations. 

In  mental  culture,  he  has  heretofore  thought 
that  Confucius  was  the  one  perfect  man,  teaching 
and  living  flawless  truth,  and  that  therefore  it  was 
waste  time,  if  not  impiety,  to  look  into  the  liter- 
ature of  other  nations.  Since  also  the  rules  for  the 
conduct  of  life  and  the  precedents  followed  to-day 
were  ordained  ages  ago  by  men  faultlessly  wise,  it 
seems  absurd  even  to  talk  about  improvement  or 
reform.  This  also  to  him  savors  of  impiety. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  excessive  reverence  for 
the  past  is  largely  the  cause  of  so  much  supersti- 
tion among  the  common  people.  It  explains  their 
settled  belief  in  such  absurdities  as  witchcraft  and 
gods,  imps  and  demons  of  all  sorts,  dragons,  and 
foxes  that  become  pretty  women.  There  is  a vast 
menagerie  of  mythical  animals  that  have  no  exist- 
ence out  of  Chinese  noddles.  That  mass  of  super- 
stitious nonsense,  both  silly  and  dangerous,  called 


COMPARATIVE  CIVILIZATION 


13 


Feng  Sliuey,  which  means  “ wind  and  water,’’  is  a 
sort  of  rude  popular  science.  For  a long  time  it 
hindered  the  introduction  of  railways  and  tele- 
graphs, besides  being  opposed  to  reality  and  pure 
religion. 

This  state  of  mind  also  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
the  government  has  never  really  tolerated  any  doc- 
trines that  seem  to  be  contrary  to  the  ancient  cus- 
toms, which  in  themselves  mean  morals.  Any  new 
teaching  that  would  change  the  ways  of  the  people 
is  branded  as  sacrilege.  The  Chinese  religion  is 
probably  the  only  one  in  the  world  spontaneously 
developed  on  the  soil  of  the  people  who  now  hold 
the  land  on  which  it  originated.  It  is  the  only 
purely  native  religion  among  the  great  ones  of 
earth. 

Yet  many  religions  have  entered  the  Central  Em- 
pire, — Shamanism  or  spiritism  from  the  North  ; 
Buddhism  from  India ; Islam  from  Arabia ; He- 
braism from  Babylon,  and  Christianity  from  the 
West.  Ancient  and  medieval  missionaries  from 
Palestine,  Egypt,  and  Persia,  good  priests  from 
Rome  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
earnest  men  and  women  from  Protestant  countries 
since  A.  D.  1800,  and  from  Russia  in  recent  years, 
have  come  to  China.  Thus  the  three  modern  forms 
of  the  teachings  of  J esus  — Greek,  Roman,  and  Re- 
formed — have  begun  to  influence  Chinese  thought. 
The  government  never  persecuted,  however,  until 
it  seemed  that  the  social  system  of  China  was  in 


u 


CHINA’S  STORY 


danger,  and  the  morals,  that  is,  the  ritual  and 
national  habits  of  the  people,  were  being  altered. 

So  long  as  even  the  wisest  of  the  Chinese  lived 
within  their  own  boundaries,  dwelling  in  one  world 
of  fixed  ideas,  it  was  not  possible  for  them  even  to 
conceive  of  another  state  of  society  as  good  as  their 
own.  They  could  not  understand  the  merits  of 
foreign  men  and  things,  even  when  these  were 
brought  to  them.  Such  outlandish  novelties  were 
as  strange  to  them  as  Chinese  chopsticks  and 
“ joss  ” houses  are  to  us,  — even  though  joss  is 
but  our  own  misspelled  Latin  word  Deus,  or  God. 

To  the  Chinese  such  things  as  telescopes,  micro- 
scopes, steam  engines,  and  the  various  machines 
of  war  and  peace,  which  require  the  forces  of  gun- 
powder, modern  chemicals,  steam,  or  electricity  to 
operate  them,  seemed  only  oddities  or  toys  for 
amusement.  No  practical  good  could  be  discerned 
in  these  importations  of  “ the  outside  barbarians.” 
The  men  of  the  West  were  considered  good  black- 
smiths or  cunning  mechanics,  but  not  necessarily 
refined  persons,  with  politeness,  culture,  religion, 
or  morals.  It  was  necessary  that  Chinese  gentle- 
men should  go  abroad  and  see  humanity,  in  all  its 
phases,  before  even  the  surface  of  thought  could 
be  ruffled  or  even  a suggestion  of  change  be 
made.  It  was  still  more  important  that  young  peo- 
ple, more  susceptible  and  sensitive,  should  learn 
about  the  new  kind  of  world  and  man  outside  of 
China.  After  numbers  of  them  had  absorbed  W est- 


COMPARATIVE  CIVILIZATION 


15 


ern  culture,  it  was  possible  that  an  interior  move- 
ment looking  to  reform  should  take  place. 

At  last  it  seems  that  this  time  has  come.  The  seed 
planted  by  American  and  European  teachers  long 
ago,  the  persistent  work  of  missionaries  on  the 
soil,  and  the  education  of  Chinese  lads  and  girls 
beyond  sea  have  borne  fruit.  The  introduction  of 
new  ideas  by  means  of  trade  and  commerce  and 
the  distribution  of  printed  matter,  the  wonders  of 
science,  the  commercial  assault,  the  invasion  of  the 
steam  engine,  the  startling  events  of  war,  and  the 
near  presence  of  Japan,  “a  neighbor-disturbing 
nation,’’  now  the  most  eager  pupil  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  peoples,  have  roused  China  to  new  life. 
Now  the  rate  of  movement  seems  almost  danger- 
ously rapid. 

There  is  hope  for  the  Central  Empire,  because 
it  is  based  on  the  family.  The  unit  of  Chinese  so- 
ciety is  not  the  individual,  but  the  household,  the 
result  of  forty  centuries  of  harmony.  The  civil- 
ization of  the  Orient  is  communal,  that  of  the 
Occident  is  individual.  Filial  piety  is  the  corner- 
stone of  the  nation,  and  the  promise  attached  to 
the  commandment,  “ Honor  thy  father  and  thy 
mother,”  is  as  valid  for  the  Chinese  people  who 
still  own  their  native  soil  as  for  landless  Israel. 

The  Japanese  have  already  reversed  the  general 
opinion  of  the  W estern  world  concerning  the  capa- 
bilities of  dark-skinned  peoples.  The  battle  on  the 
Yalu  with  the  Russians,  in  1904,  sounded  the  note 


16 


CHINA’S  STORY 


of  hope  to  all  Asia.  Their  victory  made  obsolete 
hundreds  of  books  written  in  disparagement  of 
Asiatics. 

China  seems  destined  to  do  a slower  but  vastly 
greater  work  even  than  Japan.  Mother  of  all  civ- 
ilization east  of  the  Ganges,  the  world’s  debt  to 
her,  already  incalculable,  is  to  be  manifold  greater. 
China  will  conquer  every  conqueror  that  attempts 
her  conquest.  The  Chinese  love  liberty,  equality, 
and  fraternity.  If  treated  honorably  and  with 
righteousness,  they  will  enrich  the  world  with  their 
gifts,  graces,  and  inheritances.  The  Middle  King- 
dom has  for  ages  been  the  source  of  blessings  to 
surrounding  nations.  A reformed  China  will  be  a 
blessing  to  the  whole  race. 

There  are  great,  deep  currents  of  sympathy  and 
unity  between  the  Orient  and  the  Occident,  beneath 
the  apparent  and  even  sometimes  stormy  differ- 
ences on  the  surface.  Chinese  human  nature  in  its 
depths  is  exactly  like  human  nature  everywhere,  — 
including  our  own  variety.  Mythology,  poetry,  lit- 
erature, and  all  the  old  and  pre-ancient  products 
of  mind  show  this,  as  well  as  do  the  responses  of 
the  Chinese  mind  to  new  visions  and  messages  con- 
taining truth,  which  knows  no  climate,  time,  or 
space,  and  outgrows  all  names  and  labels.  All  this 
argues  favorably  for  a reformed  China. 

Apart  from  the  various  religions  which  the  Chi- 
nese have  accepted,  let  us  take  an  illustration  from 
popular  art. 


COMPARATIVE  CIVILIZATION 


17 


China  is  the  Land  of  the  Dragon  and  bears  this 
symbol  of  power  on  her  yellow  flag.  Yet  all  over 
the  earth,  among  primitive  peoples,  the  dragon  has 
been  the  supreme  symbol  of  living,  concrete  force. 
The  Chinese  dragon  in  all  its  varieties  is  well 
worthy  of  study.  On  sculpture,  painting,  dress, 
flag,  it  is  almost  omnipresent,  being  chief  of  the 
four  supernatural  animals.  It  is  so  much  like  the 
geological  creatures  of  a world  that  has  passed 
away,  that  we  ave  forced  to  believe  that  it  is  but 
the  development,  in  fancy,  of  an  actual  organism 
once  upon  the  earth.  There  are  nine  or  ten  varie- 
ties of  this  imaginary  creature  that  carries  in  his 
structure  a cyclopedia  of  all  the  forces  of  life,  with 
their  powers  of  motion  and  of  destruction.  Of  one, 
for  example,  it  is  written  : “ When  earth  is  piled 
up  in  mountains,  wind  and  rain  arise,  but  when 
water  comes  together  into  streams,  the  Kiao  dragon 
comes  into  being.” 

Chief  of  all  scaly  reptiles,  the  dragon  wields  the 
power  of  transformation.  It  can  render  itself  vis- 
ible and  invisible  at  pleasure.  It  lives  partly  in 
the  waters  of  the  earth  and  partly  in  the  waters 
above  the  earth,  in  the  spring  ascending  to  the 
clouds,  in  the  autumn  burying  itself  in  the  watery 
depths.  At  will  it  reduces  itself  to  the  size  of  a 
silkworm,  or  it  is  swollen  until  it  fills  the  space 
of  heaven  and  earth.  It  can  rise  into  the  clouds  or 
sink  into  the  ocean  deeps.  The  watery  principle  of 
the  atmosphere,  mist,  cloud,  dew,  rain,  etc.,  is  par- 


18 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ticularly  associated  with  one  dragon,  but  another 
of  different  nature  controls  the  earth’s  surface. 

In  art  it  is  not  usual  to  represent  the  dragon  as 
completely  visible,  but  to  hide  parts  of  his  body  or 
limbs  in  cloud  or  mist,  to  suggest  rather  than  fully 
to  portray. 

The  dragon  can  climb,  fly,  crawl,  and  run.  It 
has  tooth,  claw,  wing,  tail,  and  every  equipment 
belonging  to  beast,  bird,  fish,  or  reptile.  Of  the 
four  sorts  of  principal  dragons,  the  celestial  va- 
riety guards  the  mansions  of  the  gods  and  sup- 
ports them  so  that  they  do  not  fall.  The  spiritual 
dragon  causes  winds  to  blow  and  produces  rain 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  The  dragon  of  earth 
marks  out  the  courses  of  rivers  and  streams.  There 
is  a bob-tailed  dragon  that  sports  in  the  whirlwind 
and  is  credited  with  special  power  in  destroying 
houses  and  cities. 

The  dragon  is  associated  with  the  East,  with 
springtime,  and  with  the  eastern  quarter  of  the 
heavens.  In  the  popular  belief,  there  are  four 
dragon  kings,  each  having  dominion  over  one  of 
the  four  seas  which  form  the  border  of  the  habitable 
earth.  The  palaces  in  which  these  kings  live  have 
striking  names.  There  is  also  a dragon  which  does 
not  mount  up  to  heaven,  and  another  without  horns. 
Tbe  name  of  the  Riu  Kiu  (Loo  Choo)  Islands, 
Sleeping  Dragon,  suggests  one  that  has  not  yet 
risen  to  the  skies.  Most  honorable  of  all  is  the 
yellow  dragon.  That  which  has  five  claws  can 


COMPARATIVE  CIVILIZATION 


19 


be  used  only  by  the  emperor  or  on  imperial  pro- 
perty. 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  such  a divinely  endowed 
creature,  which  holds  within  himself  all  the  powers 
known  to  life  of  any  sort,  should  occupy  a great 
place  in  Chinese  art  and  story.  The  dragon  is  the 
symbol  not  only  of  power,  but  of  guardianship.  It 
is  often  seen  in  carving,  sculpture,  and  painting, 
on  gateways,  posts,  and  temple  ornaments.  At 
wells,  fountains,  eaves,  conduits,  in  gardens  and 
other  places  where  water  spouts,  flows,  or  is  stored 
up,  we  may  expect  to  meet  with  the  stone,  bronze, 
or  iron  dragon  represented  in  various  forms,  while 
from  paper,  porcelain,  and  in  pictorial  art  he 
greets  us  continually. 

In  philosophy  the  dragon  is  the  emblem  of  power 
manifesting  itself.  In  popular  notion  the  dragon 
is  held  responsible  for  a great  deal  that  we  should 
express  by  other  symbols  or  in  different  forms  of 
speech.  In  the  earlier  world  of  thought,  in  the  in- 
fancy of  the  race,  before  there  were  scales,  mea- 
sures, laboratories,  written  figures,  or  mathemat- 
ics, all  great  manifestations  of  power  and  strange 
events,  as  well  as  human  heroes,  were  described  in 
fairy  tales  and  mythology.  Only  in  this  way  was 
explanation  possible.  Thus  a rude  sort  of  science, 
outside  of  the  books,  grows  up.  Little  children 
who  cannot  know  anything  about  the  invisible 
laws  of  the  universe,  or  understand  machinery 
or  its  motive  power,  have  things  wonderful  ex- 


20 


CHINA’S  STORY 


plained  to  them  by  means  of  things  living,  that  is, 
of  animals  who  talk,  and  of  men  and  women  who 
can  change  themselves,  or  their  friends  or  enemies, 
into  something  else,  and  one  thing  into  another. 
In  the  myths  the  heroes  and  heroines  can  over- 
come all  obstacles  by  magic.  Now  to  people  who 
have  never  seen  and  cannot  know  anything  about 
such  wonders  as  locomotives,  telegraphs,  steam 
engines,  photographs,  and  a thousand  other  strange 
inventions  of  an  age  of  science,  explanations  must 
be  made  in  the  language  and  forms  of  thought 
with  which  they  are  acquainted. 

With  these  illustrations  we  can  appreciate  the 
fact  that  the  uneducated  masses  of  China  — not 
ten  per  cent  of  whom  can  read  books  — believe 
easily  the  most  absurd  stories  circulated  about 
foreigners.  Indeed,  they  quite  equal  or  excel  the 
worst  of  our  own  people  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
Chinese.  The  amazing  things  actually  done,  or 
alleged  to  be  done,  do  not  seem  any  more  won- 
derful than  what  they  have  been  accustomed  to 
believe. 

Let  us  consider  a Chinese  traveler  in  America, 
but  not  yet  understanding  how  the  forces  of 
steam  and  electricity  are  harnessed  and  made  to 
obey  the  will  of  man.  On  going  back  home  and 
telling  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  for  example, 
with  engines  going  at  lightning  speed,  drawing 
crowds  of  people  in  long  trains  of  cars  thousands 
of  miles  a day,  but  also  killing  men  by  accident 


COMPARATIVE  CIVILIZATION 


21 


daily,  he  might  describe  this  as  a steel  dragon 
stretching  from  Pittsburg  to  New  York.  The 
monster  is  able  to  carry  on  its  back  every  day 
thousands  of  people,  but  it  requires  for  its  food 
a man  or  two  every  day,  devouring  human  beings 
very  much  like  the  dragons  of  mythology.  So 
also  in  the  great  disasters  from  storm  and  flood, 
tidal  waves  or  volcanoes,  which  overwhelm  human 
lives,  and  in  the  dangers  and  deaths  from  mining, 
or  by  fire,  gas,  explosion,  or  poisonous  fumes, 
the  uneducated  Chinese  sees  the  work  of  the  great 
offended  “ god,”  dragon,  or  some  other  irritated 
creature,  where  we  should  look  only  for  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature. 

The  power  of  the  dragon  is  beneficent  also. 
Its  nobler  side  is  shown  especially  in  relation  to 
water.  Life,  fertility,  food,  comfort,  and  beauty 
come  from  the  cloud  and  rain.  The  sweet  influ- 
ences that  drop  from  the  skies  and  descend  from 
the  mountain  are  for  the  happiness  of  man. 
Hence  there  are  dragons  which  are  associated 
with  happy  omens  and  permanent  blessing. 

Critical  comparison  of  the  root  ideas  of  East 
and  West,  whether  of  men  or  of  dragons,  shows 
differences.  In  European  and  Semitic  lore,  the 
hero  overcomes  and  slays  the  dragons,  man’s 
wit  and  valor  prevailing  over  brute  fierceness  and 
strength.  This  human  phase  of  struggle  is  as  nearly 
absent  from  the  Oriental  lore  as  is  praise  from 
their  worship. 


CHAPTER  III 


WHO  AND  WHENCE? 

The  people  called  Chinese  are  a composite 
formed  of  hundreds  of  tribes.  The  Chinaman, 
like  the  American,  is  made  up  of  many  kinds  of 
man.  The  reason  why  there  is  no  common  spoken 
language  all  over  the  empire  is  because  of  these 
ancient  bodies  of  foreigners,  now  fused  into  the 
mass,  whose  thought  and  speech  have  made  dia- 
lects, just  as  in  Southern  Europe  are  many  lan- 
guages. 

To  the  “griffin”  or  foreigner  newly  arrived 
on  Chinese  soil  all  Chinese  look  exactly  alike. 
Even  the  traveler  who  penetrates  the  interior 
can  only  by  keen  observation  and  long  experience 
distinguish  a Mongol  from  a Manchuor  a Tibetan 
from  a Cantonese.  The  expert  also  is  puzzled 
when  many  subjects  of  the  Chinese  emperor 
gather  in  one  company  from  all  parts.  When 
they  dress  in  foreign  clothes,  few  Europeans  can 
tell  whether  the  men  whom  they  see  are  Japanese, 
Koreans,  Annamese,  or  Pekingese. 

In  a word,  in  China  a great  many  different 
kinds  of  men  of  various  origins  have  been  so 
blended  together  by  one  social  system  and  one 
general  method  of  dress,  manners,  and  ?ife  that 


WHO  AND  WHENCE? 


23 


they  cannot  at  first  be  distinguished.  Never  else- 
where on  earth  did  so  many  millions  of  people  be- 
come so  much  like  one  another  as  those  who  dwell 
in  the  eastern  half  of  Asia.  If  all  the  tribes  and 
nations  of  humanity  were  to  stream  past  a certain 
point,  every  fourth  person  would  be  a Chinese. 

All  this,  however,  is  very  different  from  the 
reality  in  early  ages.  So  many  human  beings  have 
been  made  like  one  another,  first,  because  of  a 
wonderful  social  system  that,  like  a crucible  set 
in  white-hot  anthracite,  melts  into  uniformity 
whatever  falls  into  it ; and,  second,  because  they 
were  so  long  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  world 
by  the  great  impassable  things  in  nature.  Steppes 
and  deserts  on  the  north,  high  mountains  on  the 
west,  and  the  ocean  on  the  east  walled  them  in. 
In  the  days  before  the  magnetic  compass,  when 
keeled  ships  did  not  exist,  and  there  were  no  routes 
by  water,  except  those  within  sight  of  the  coast, 
the  fearsome  Sea  of  Darkness  sufficed  to  keep 
strangers  away.  The  mountains  shut  in  and  kept 
out,  and  on  the  deserts  men  could  not  live.  China 
thus  escaped  conquest. 

So,  as  in  a walled  garden,  or  like  squirrels  in 
a cage,  having  a similar  environment  and  living 
on  much  the  same  food,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
Chinese  have  become  as  much  alike  as  they  are. 
The  “ Hundred  Families,”  as  they  call  themselves, 
formed  for  ages  a self-centred  hermit  nation.  Yet 
there  are  mighty  differences  in  China,  even  as 


24 


CHINA’S  STORY 


inside  the  forest  there  are  various  trees,  and  these 
we  shall  consider.  Let  us  now  look  at  their  home. 

The  empire  on  the  map  is  shaped  like  a rough 
triangle  with  its  point  toward  Europe,  its  jagged 
base  resting  along  the  sea,  while  the  irregular 
side  lines  from  east  to  west  converge  in  Central 
Asia,  near  Kashgar. 

From  west  to  east  the  land  consists  of  height, 
slope,  and  level.  Its  physical  geography  is  more 
interesting  than  any  description.  China  owns  the 
roof  of  the  world,  which  is  Tibet.  There  we  find 
a region,  cold,  full  of  mountains  and  of  the  sand 
and  gravel  which  have  been  ground  from  them. 
It  is  rich  in  ice  and  snow,  with  a few  fertile  plains 
and  many  valleys.  On  this  plateau  are  the  cradles 
of  Asia’s  great  rivers.  Those  flowing  outside  the 
mountain  walls  make  the  Ganges,  Irawaddy,  Sal- 
win,  and  Mekong.  Those  which  rush  eastward 
across  China,  cutting  deep  gorges  through  the  in- 
cline before  reaching  level  land,  are  the  Whang 
Ho,  Yang-tse,  and  Si  rivers. 

This  long  slope,  or  vast  inclined  plane,  through 
which  three  great  rivers  have  worn  their  way, 
furnishes  the  second  division  or  set  of  altitudes 
in  the  great  empire.  Three  immense  gorges,  or 
defiles,  like  mighty  canals,  have  thus  been  cut  out 
during  the  long  ages.  The  billions  of  tons  of 
earth  which  these  streams  have  brought  down 
from  the  higher  land  have  been  deposited  below, 
forming  the  great  fertile  plains,  both  inland  and 


GORGE  LEADING  TO  JIN  FU  SAN 


V 


WHO  AND  WHENCE? 


23 


along  the  sea,  on  which  the  larger  part  of  the 
population  of  China  is  found  to-day.  A steady 
river  of  wind  also,  blowing  from  the  west,  after 
ages  of  activity,  has  deposited  the  vast  yellow  beds 
of  loess^  or  loam,  of  various  height,  forming  the 
great  plain  of  northern  China,  on  which  many  tens 
of  millions  of  people  live. 

Thus  the  landscape  is  a triple  formation,  con- 
sisting of  plateau,  incline,  and  sea-level ; the  first 
averaging  in  altitude  12,000  feet ; the  second  be- 
ing roughly  from  3000  to  6000  feet  high ; while 
the  densely  populated  rolling  land  rises  from  600 
to  3000  feet  above  the  sea-plain.  Not  a little  of 
the  fertile  soil  in  the  northeast,  in  the  Yang-tse 
basin,  and  along  the  West  River  valley  to  the 
south,  is  almost  on  the  level  of  the  sea.  The 
Yang-tse  River  is  “ the  girdle  of  China,”  is  most 
navigable  of  all  China’s  streams,  and  is  in  the 
centre  of  its  largest  trade. 

Large  areas  of  the  empire  are  uninhabited,  or 
sparsely  settled.  A redistribution  of  population  is 
needed  in  order  that  waste  land  shall  be  tilled 
and  the  pressure  on  the  food -supply  relieved. 
The  replanting  of  the  forests  with  greater  variety 
of  grain  food,  other  than  rice,  the  opening  of  the 
mines,  the  exploitation  of  the  metallic  and  mineral 
wealth,  and  the  building  of  railroads,  making  all 
regions  accessible,  will  accomplish  this  with  bene- 
fit to  all.  The  masses  are  crowded  in  river  valleys 
and  on  plains  where  rice  is  most  easily  cultivated. 


26 


CHINA'S  STORY 


The  Chinese  suffer  to-day  because  they  abused 
nature  in  early  times.  With  the  prodigality  of 
youth,  and  never  thinking  of  want,  they  cut  down 
their  forests  without  replanting.  Now,  over  large 
areas  the  rain  falls,  but  runs  off  at  once  as  if  from 
a roof,  carrying  down  into  the  rivers  and  the  sea 
billions  of  tons  of  earth  that  would  be  fertile  if 
kept  in  place  with  its  moisture  retained.  From 
the  treeless  hills,  and  from  land  robbed  of  its 
roots  and  underbrush  for  fuel,  the  soil  is  blown 
out  to  sea  by  the  winds.  To  clothe  the  hills  again 
with  Nature’s  covering  is  China’s  duty.  This  lack 
of  forests  is  the  cause  of  alternate  droughts  and 
floods,  which  cause  untold  suffering  and  the  loss 
of  many  millions  of  lives  because  of  famine  and 
drowning.  China  needs  the  engineer,  the  forester, 
the  miner,  and  the  railway  builder.  She  may  then 
be  able  to  support  a vastly  greater  population,  for 
no  land  on  earth  of  equal  area  exceeds  China 
proper  in  fertility. 

The  various  countries  make  up  an  empire  con- 
taining one  third  of  Asia,  or  about  four  and  a 
half  million  square  miles.  No  one  knows  its  popu- 
lation, which  is  supposed  by  many  to  be  over  four 
hundred  millions,  but  some  think  it  less.  The 
government  claims  a total  of  four  hundred  and 
twenty-six  millions. 

Notable  differences  exist,  not  only  between  the 
people  of  the  North  and  those  of  the  South,  but 
also  between  the  highlanders,  the  valley  men,  and 


WHO  AND  WHENCE? 


27 


those  dwelling  on  the  sea-plains.  There  is  not,  and 
never  has  been,  a uniform  speech.  Writing  and 
literature  have  always  been  the  national  bond. 
Indeed,  the  history  of  China  will  show  us  that  in 
no  country  in  the  world  have  letters  had  a more 
profound  influence,  not  only  on  the  social,  but 
also  on  the  political  development  of  a nation. 
Dialects  arose  in  China  very  much  as  did  French, 
Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italian,  and  other  Romance 
languages  of  Southern  Europe.  The  speech  of 
the  conquerors  won,  but  the  old  ideas,  idioms, 
thought-forms,  and  much  of  the  vocabulary  re- 
mained. Chinese  dialects  are  as  truly  languages 
as  are  those  in  Europe  derived  from  the  Latin. 
The  “ Mandarin,’’  created  from  the  written  forms, 
is  the  standard  of  the  spoken  language. 

Nobody  knows  whence  or  how  the  first  people, 
the  primeval  fathers  of  the  Chinese,  came  into 
the  old  home,  but  all  traditions  point  to  their 
entrance  from  the  West.  The  fortieth  parallel  of 
north  latitude  is  the  oldest  pathway  of  nations. 
They  passed  from  central  Asia  down  the  valley 
of  the  Tarim,  where  are  still  famous  cities,  through 
Turkestan,  across  the  Gobi  desert,  and  into  the 
valleys  of  the  Yellow  River. 

This  great  stream,  called  the  Hoang  Ho,  or 
Whang  Ho,  flows  southeastwardly  from  the  high- 
lands of  Tibet.  After  cutting  out  mighty  gorges 
in  the  long  slope,  it  makes  a tremendous  bend  to 
the  north.  Then  flowing  southward,  it  turns  east- 


28 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ward  from  its  great  loop  and  debouches  at  pres- 
ent into  the  Gulf  of  Pechili.  It  has  changed  its 
course  very  many  times,  so  that  a map  of  the  old 
channels,  now  dry  and  become  fields,  looks  like  a 
tangled  skein  of  thread.  Oftener,  in  ages  past,  it 
flowed  into  the  sea  at  different  points  north  of  the 
promontory  province  of  Shantung,  but  in  many 
other  cases  it  leaped  southward,  occasionally  emp- 
tying its  waters  only  a few  miles  away  from  its 
greater  comrade,  the  Yang-tse.  Its  yellow  color, 
whence  its  name,  reveals  its  history.  For  ages 
past,  “ China’s  Sorrow  ” has  wrought  vast  destruc- 
tion of  property,  ruining  houses  and  fertile  fields 
and  drowning  millions  of  human  beings,  or  bring- 
ing them  to  their  death  through  famine.  It  con- 
stantly tends  to  raise  its  bed,  and  needs  a greater 
engineer  than  China  has  yet  produced  to  curb  it. 
In  history  it  has  been  what  the  Rhine  is  to  Western 
Europe. 

Into  the  Yellow  River  valley,  before  written 
history,  bands  of  people  entered  with  their  faces 
to  the  rising  sun.  Industrious,  peacefully  inclined, 
ready  to  learn  and  to  progress,  they  showed  very 
early  a capacity  for  self-development,  and  began 
an  evolution,  through  ceaseless  industry,  toward 
the  great  triumphs  of  to-day.  While  most  of  what 
is  Chinese  has  been  evolved  from  within,  much 
also  has  been  imported  from  the  West.  We  cannot 
say  how  much,  though  some  have  tried  to  tell  us. 
China’s  astronomy  and  measurements  of  time  are 


WHO  AND  WHENCE? 


29 


certainly  borrowed  from  the  same  source  as  ours, 
Chaldea. 

The  Chinese  is  frugal,  temperate,  and  laborious. 
He  runs  to  muscle  rather  than  to  nerve,  and  to 
body  rather  than  to  brain.  Whereas  the  Hindoo 
is  small  of  limb  and  frame,  and  large  in  head  de- 
velopment, the  Chinese  tends  to  stockiness.  The 
typical  man  of  India  enjoys  intellectual  discipline, 
but  while  the  normal  Chinese  cultivates  his  mind, 
he  does  not  give  himself  to  abstractions.  He  lives 
on  the  earth.  The  mind  of  Confucius  rose  no 
higher. 

Besides  its  fertility  and  variety  of  soil  and 
scenery,  China  proper,  where  most  of  the  people 
live,  contains  eighteen  provinces  and  one  third  of 
the  empire.  It  is  well  watered,  and  has  many  lake 
regions,  which  are  yet  to  become  playgrounds  for 
the  world’s  tourists.  China  proper  is  shaped,  very 
appropriately,  like  a great  round -bodied  teapot, 
with  one  foot  resting  upon  Hai-nan  Island  and 
another  upon  Burma.  Shantung  is  its  spout, 
while  the  eyes  for  the  loops  of  the  handle  are  the 
provinces  of  Chili  on  the  east  and  Kangsi  on  the 
northwest. 

Tibet,  the  cold  highland  of  Asia  and  the  cradle 
of  its  rivers,  long  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Grand 
Lama,  and  mysterious  because  unknown,  the 
Pure  West,  or  Paradise  of  the  Buddhists,  the 
land  of  sheep  and  the  yak,  has  only  in  late  years 
been  penetrated  by  daring  explorers.  It  con- 


30 


CHINA’S  STORY 


tains  812,000  square  miles,  and  about  2,300,000 
people. 

In  the  extreme  northwest,  and  north  of  Tibet, 
are  East  Turkestan  and  Hi,  or  Sungaria.  Here, 
as  in  Mongolia,  are  great  desert  plateaus  of  dry 
sand.  Of  their  early  history  we  know  but  little, 
yet  they  were  once  populous.  Beneath  their  drift- 
ing sands  and  dust  are  many  buried  cities.  The 
name  Gobi  means  “ dried-up  sea.”  Here  water  is 
worth  more  than  gold,  and  the  guide-marks  for 
the  routes  of  caravans  are  the  bones  of  camels 
and  horses.  Yet  large  armies  have  crossed  this 
desert  waste,  aided  by  the  oases  which  dot  the 
plain.  In  the  Russian  expeditions  of  Generals 
Skobeleff  and  Kaufmann  to  Merv  and  Khiva,  in 
the  last  century,  about  twenty  thousand  camels 
died.  In  reality  this  is  debatable  land  between 
the  Russians  and  Chinese.  The  population  in  both 
provinces  does  not  exceed  two  millions. 

Mongolia,  high,  cool,  and  grassy,  has  much 
desert  land,  but  is  rich  in  camels,  herds,  and 
flocks.  Out  of  these  highlands,  as  from  a geyser, 
in  recurrent  overflows,  have  gone  forth  both  to 
the  East  and  to  the  West  many  streams  of  human- 
ity to  influence  history  and  civilization.  To  this 
source  we  can  trace  the  Huns,  Vandals,  and  other 
destructive  hordes  which  assisted  in  breaking  up 
the  Roman  Empire,  and  the  Turks  of  later  days. 
Going  southward  and  eastward,  as  they  scattered, 
they  took  on  different  names. 


MONOLITH  SCULPTURE,  MING  TOMBS 


WHO  AND  WHENCE? 


31 


The  Mongols  overwhelmed  China.  In  India 
they  were  called  Moguls.  Moving  westward  in  a 
cloud  of  devastation  they  camped  on  Russian  soil 
for  over  two  centuries.  To-day  the  Mongol  com- 
ing to  Peking,  as  camel  driver,  with  long  trains 
of  camels,  is  the  object  of  chaffing  by  his  more 
civilized  neighbor,  the  Chinese.  The  term  “ Mon- 
golian,” absurdly  applied  in  late  times  to  the 
Chinese,  is  a relic  of  the  days  when  the  science  of 
ethnology  was  in  its  infancy. 

Manchuria,  with  its  area  of  363,610  square 
miles,  much  of  it  fertile,  includes  the  three  eastern, 
or  imperial,  provinces.  These  in  recent  years  have 
become  famous  as  the  seat  of  Japan’s  two  wars, 
with  China  and  with  Russia.  It  is  the  bean-gar- 
den  of  the  world.  Its  silkworms,  that  feed  on 
oak-leaves  instead  of  the  mulberry,  produce  vast 
quantities  of  pongee,  which  means  either  “ home- 
made ” or  “ wild  ” silk.  One  third  of  its  area  is 
nearly  as  low  as  the  sea -level.  Since  about  1860 
there  has  been  an  active  immigration  thither,  so 
that  the  population,  greatly  increased  in  recent 
years,  numbers  now  probably  25,000,000. 

Out  of  this  region  came  the  Manchus,  who, 
since  1644,  have  given  to  China  her  ruling  dynasty 
and  most  of  her  soldiers.  They  introduced  the 
current  style  of  dressing  the  hair,  compelling  the 
shaving  of  the  forehead  and  the  wearing  of  the 
queue  in  token  of  loyalty.  Until  very  recently, 
Manchus  never  traveled  abroad.  Indeed,  very 


32 


CHINA’S  STORY 


few  Chinese  have  ever  been  in  America  except 
those  coming  from  the  southern  region  around 
Canton.  There  has  never  been  any  sign  of  a 
large  immigration  from  China  to  the  United 
States  from  northern,  central,  western,  or  east- 
ern China  ; but  only  from  the  South,  where  for 
centuries  the  emigrants  have  gone  out  into  pe- 
ninsular and  island  Asia. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  TARTARS 

We  can  understand  Chinese  history  if  we  think 
of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  northern  barba- 
rians of  Europe.  Tartary  was  the  general  name 
given  by  Europeans  to  those  countries  north  of 
China  proper.  Roughly  speaking,  the  story  of 
China  is  largely  that  of  civilized  Chinese  strug- 
gling to  resist  the  assaults  of  the  Tatars,  or  “ Tar- 
tars.” Just  as  there  were  at  the  opening  of  the 
Christian  era  only  two  kinds  of  people  in  early 
Europe,  civilized  and  barbarian,  so  also  in  China. 

In  Europe  the  Alps  made  the  mountain  line 
dividing  the  Romans  from  the  vassal  and  pupil 
nations  under  their  control.  There  were  as  yet  no 
French,  Germans,  Dutch,  English,  Scotch,  Irish, 
or  Scandinavian  populations  and  languages,  but 
only  wandering  savages  and  rude  barbarians,  of 
whose  language  and  general  life,  though  they  were 
our  ancestors,  we  know  but  little.  In  time  the 
northern  barbarians,  moving  southward  over  the 
Alps,  broke  up  the  Roman  Empire,  mingled  their 
blood  with  that  of  the  southern  people,  and  adopted 
more  or  less  of  Roman  civilization.  Through 
Christianity  and  mutual  struggle,  they  passed  by 
evolution  into  higher  forms  of  life,  in  which  the 


34 


CHINA’S  STORY 


different  nations,  languages,  and  governments  grew 
into  their  present  form.  To-day  there  are  in 
Europe,  Spaniards,  French,  Germans,  Dutch,  Eng- 
lish, Russians,  etc.  Two  thousand  years  ago,  as 
there  were  north  of  the  Roman  Empire  only  “ bar- 
barians,” so  also  there  were  only  “ Tartars  ” outside 
and  north  of  China. 

In  eastern  Asia,  China  was  the  civilized  centre, 
with  aborigines  or  uncivilized  peoples  to  the  east, 
south,  and  west,  while  in  the  north  was  the  long 
frontier,  beyond  which  were  the  savages  called 
collectively  Tatars.  Their  countries  were  later 
named  Manchuria,  Mongolia,  Turkestan,  etc.  This 
term,  Tatar,  is  suggestive  of  horses  or  cattle  and 
“ horsy  ” men,  whose  business  is  with  herds  and 
droves,  and  who  live,  not  on  rice  and  grain,  but  on 
the  milk  of  mares,  sheep,  and  goats.  One  of  their 
commandments  was  — “ Never  strike  a horse.” 

When  the  Mongols  broke  into  Europe,  the  sim- 
ilarity of  the  name  Tatar  to  Tartarus,  or  Hell, 
prompted  the  monks  to  write  the  word  Tatar  as  if 
it  were  spelled  Tartar.  The  French  king,  St.  Louis, 
in  speaking  of  these  rough  riders  from  the  Far 
East  and  their  horrible  deeds,  said,  “Well  may 
they  be  called  Tartars,  for  their  deeds  are  those 
of  fiends  from  Tartarus.”  They  were  certainly 
kinder  to  their  animals  than  to  men  not  of  their 
own  race. 

As  was  the  case  with  the  various  tribes  called 
collectively  Germans,  so  these  many  kinds  of  men 


THE  TARTARS 


35 


in  northern  Asia  bore  different  tribal  names  in 
various  eras.  Some  scholars  have  divided  Chinese 
history  into  two  periods  : first,  development  and 
evolution,  until  B.  c.  206  ; while  all  the  rest,  until 

A.  D.  1644,  is  comprised  in  the  “ struggles  with  the 
Tartars.”  The  first  great  clash  lasted  from  206 

B.  C.  to  A.  D.  589,  when  the  empire  was  divided 
between  the  Tartars  in  the  north  and  the  Chinese 
in  the  south. 

The  second  great  struggle  lasted  from  589  to 
1644,  during  which,  after  divisions  between  the 
Chinese  and  the  Kin  and  Mongol  Tartars,  there 
was  only  one  pure  Chinese  dynasty,  called  the 
Ming,  or  Bright,  which  lasted  from  1388  to  1644. 
Then  followed  the  Manchu  Tartars,  who  assumed 
the  rule  over  the  empire  with  the  capital  at  Pe- 
king. For  the  most  part  the  conquerors  kept  them- 
selves separated  from  the  Chinese,  not  intermarry- 
ing with  them.  While  they  held  the  governmental 
rule  and  military  power,  the  purse  and  the  sword, 
they  let  the  Chinese  have  their  own  way,  so  that 
the  conquered  won,  as  they  perhaps  always  will, 
in  the  long  run,  by  passive  resistance.  The  Man- 
chus  lost  their  own  language  and  changed  most  of 
their  habits.  Thus,  through  luxury  and  conformity 
to  native  ways,  they  became  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  Chinese,  and  are  now  largely  blended 
with  the  nation  which  they  rule. 

Nevertheless,  there  are  still  great  differences  in 
the  physical  appearance  of  the  Manchus  and  the 


36 


CHINA’S  STORY 


genuine  natives,  while  many  institutions,  such  as 
slavery,  peculiar  to  the  Tartars,  were  never  adopted 
by  the  Chinese.  In  the  wearing  of  the  queue,  the 
people  were  forced  to  be  like  their  conquerors  ; for 
a “pigtail”  is  a sign  of  loyalty. 

In  the  ancient  world,  before  Confucius  (551- 
479  B.  c.),  when  China  meant  only  a little  king- 
dom, not  much  larger  than  France  or  Texas,  the 
various  kinds  of  men,  aborigines,  savage  and  half- 
civilized,  at  the  four  points  of  the  compass  and  on 
the  islands,  were  vastly  more  different  from  one 
another  than  they  are  to-day.  Manners,  customs, 
food,  religions,  forms  of  social  order,  and  govern- 
ment differed  widely,  and  before  becoming  what 
they  are,  have  passed  through  a long  evolution. 
To-day  they  show  the  results  of  human  beings 
under  the  play  both  of  natural  forces  and  of  human 
influences,  such  as  religion,  literature,  art,  the 
pressure  of  invading  and  conquering  nations,  and 
the  events  of  war  and  peace.  Education  and  the 
social  system  have  made  one  solvent  that  dissolves 
everything  which  it  touches  or  which  is  dropped 
into  it. 

Perhaps  no  writer  has  made  a better  map  show- 
ing the  limits  of  old  China  and  the  gradual  exten- 
sion of  the  empire  than  has  Professor  E.  H.  Parker, 
though  Klaproth’s  Atlas  of  twenty-six  epochs  is 
very  suggestive.  We  see  old  China  lying  between 
parallels  thirty-five  and  forty  of  north  latitude,  and 
between  the  Yellow  River  and  the  Gulf  of  Pechili. 


THE  TARTARS 


37 


By  a glance  at  Professor  Parker’s  map,  one  may 
learn  more  about  the  other  annexations,  incorpo- 
rations, and  assimilations  of  territory,  the  areas 
conquered  from  and  re-taken  by  the  Tartars  or 
nomads,  the  portions  inhabited  by  mixed  races,  or 
only  partially  or  very  lately  brought  under  Chinese 
influence,  than  from  reading  pages  of  description. 
To  this  day,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  empire, 
there  are  tribes,  like  the  Lolos,  only  half  absorbed. 
An  area  as  large  as  France  is  still  occupied  by  sev- 
eral millions  of  people  belonging  to  aboriginal 
tribes,  nearly  two  hundred  in  number,  called  Chi- 
nese, but  reckoned  as  “tame  ” savages,  in  contrast 
to  the  “ wild  ” or  the  wholly  unsubdued. 

The  general  relations  between  the  Chinese  and 
their  northern  frontagers  is  best  shown  in  the  leg- 
ends and  anecdotes,  just  as  the  stories  of  our  fron- 
tiersmen and  captives  among  the  Indians  illustrate 
American  colonial  life.  Many  a Tartar  lad,  taken 
prisoner  and  employed  at  the  Chinese  court  as 
a stable  boy,  waiter,  or  slave,  rose  to  favor  and 
fame.  In  one  case,  in  86  b.  c.,  an  imperial  general 
marched  into  Turkestan  and  captured  the  golden 
image  worshiped  by  the  tribe,  — possibly  a statue 
of  Buddha,  — and  brought  it  home  as  spoil,  along 
with  the  chieftain’s  son  Jih  Ti.  The  tall  and  fine- 
looking  boy,  so  faithful  to  his  duties,  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  emperor,  who  raised  him  to  the 
post  of  Master  of  the  Horse,  with  the  surname  of 
Kin,  or  golden,  and  later  made  him  regent  of  the 


38 


CHINA’S  STORY 


empire.  Jih  Ti  was  famous  for  the  magnificence 
of  his  clothes  and  houses,  and  in  history  his  name 
enjoys  posthumous  honors. 

This  idea  of  gold  as  the  measure  of  things  super- 
fine, and  with  a sentimental  as  well  as  money 
value,  is  as  common  with  the  Chinese  as  with  us. 
The  small  feet  of  the  women  are  “ golden  lilies.” 
The  lights  in  the  imperial  palace  are  called  “ The 
Golden  Lily  Candelabra,”  and  one  of  the  highest 
honors  conferred  by  the  emperor  upon  a minister 
was  to  order  him  to  be  escorted  home  by  light- 
bearers.  The  Gate  of  the  Golden  Horses,  belong- 
ing to  the  imperial  palace,  took  its  name  from  a 
group  of  statuary,  and  to  this  day  “ to  wait  at  the 
Gate  of  the  Golden  Horses”  means  to  hold  one’s 
self  in  readiness  for  the  imperial  commands.  It  is 
this  constant  allusion  to  good  stories,  happy  omens, 
or  things  that  suggest  pleasure,  that  makes  a lit- 
erary composition  or  the  conversation  of  Chinese 
gentlemen  with  one  another  so  sparkling.  One 
of  the  most  famous  authors  of  dramatic  literature 
of  the  seventeenth  century  had  Kin  in  his  name. 
In  a thousand  ways  the  Chinese  show  their  love 
of  gold,  both  sentimentally  and  in  rhetoric,  in  art 
and  in  business,  the  Buddhists  especially  making 
their  images, altars,  and  temple  furnishings  ablaze 
of  golden  glory. 

It  is  from  the  Chinese,  also,  that  the  idea  of 
the  transmutation  of  metals,  and  especially  of  the 
baser  into  the  nobler,  comes.  Since  the  discovery 


THE  TARTARS 


39 


of  radium  in  our  time,  scientific  men  do  not  sneer 
at  this  notion  quite  in  the  same  way  as  they  for- 
merly did.  The  Chinese  mystics  taught  that  gold 
grows  by  natural  evolution,  beginning  with  the 
original  substance  of  all  things.  It  was  argued 
that  gold  is  the  perfected  essence  of  mountain 
rock,  which,  after  the  lapse  of  a thousand  years, 
is  changed  into  quicksilver.  But  this  moon-metal, 
mercury,  is  called  into  existence  by  the  female 
or  lunar  principle  of  nature,  and  remains  liquid 
until  acted  upon  by  the  solar  or  masculine  ele- 
mental force,  when  it  is  converted  into  gold. 
This  belief  in  the  transmutation  of  metals  was 
especially  in  vogue  during  the  Tang  and  Sung 
dynasties,  when  the  Arabs  were  bringing  Chinese 
ideas,  discoveries,  and  inventions  to  Europe. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  the  Tartars  called  their 
dynasty  Kin,  or  Golden.  The  great  Mongol  host 
that  invaded  Russia  was  called  the  Golden  Horde. 

Many  are  the  novels  and  poems  which  picture 
the  Chinese  frontier  settlements  and  garrisons, 
the  troops  and  officers  pining  for  home  and  tired 
of  their  monotonous  life,  the  sudden  raids  and 
cunning  stratagems  of  the  enemy,  and  the  ex- 
periences of  border  fighting.  In  many  civil  wars 
the  Tartars  were  employed  as  auxiliaries,  just  as 
the  British  used  the  Indians  during  our  Revolu- 
tionary War,  and  as  both  sides  enrolled  them  in 
the  War  of  1812.  Banishment  beyond  the  Great 
Wall  was  frequent,  and  many  are  the  laments  of 


40 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  exiles,  in  poetry.  In  some  cases  the  long- 
banished  one  went  out  as  a youth  and  came  back 
as  a white-haired  man.  Su  Wu,  who  lived  B.  c. 
100,  was  one  of  these,  who  is  now  extolled  in  the 
popular  stories  as  the  pattern  of  unchanging 
fidelity  to  his  imperial  lord.  Forgotten  at  court, 
he  sent  a message  to  the  emperor  by  means  of 
“ wireless  telegraphy  ” on  the  wings  of  a bird. 
How  he  did  it  is  thus  told  : — 

After  many  years*  absence,  having  meanwhile 
clung  to  his  staff  of  office  as  a precious  wand,  he 
married  a wife  and  reared  a son.  Catching  a wild 
goose,  he  wrote  a message  of  loyalty  and  attached 
it  to  the  creature’s  leg  just  as  it  was  about  to  fly 
southward  in  the  autumn.  The  emperor,  hunting 
in  his  pleasure  grounds,  shot  the  bird,  and  ob- 
serving the  missive,  opened  and  read  it.  He  at 
once  took  measures  to  have  Su  Wu  recalled,  and 
the  venerable  man,  now  husband  and  father,  re- 
turned to  receive  honors. 

Other  instances  are  known  in  which  fugitives 
from  crime  or  debt,  and  Chinese  renegades,  got 
among  the  Tartars,  teaching  them  many  new 
things  or  helping  them  to  profit  by  treachery  in 
raids  against  the  Chinese.  Many  also  are  the 
stories  of  the  lovely  wives  of  these  exiles,  left  at 
home,  but  ever  faithful  to  their  lords.  In  the 
fourth  century  A.  D.  a lady,  the  wife  of  a banished 
governor,  thus  bereaved,  embroidered  her  poetical 
laments  in  an  intricate  circular  scrollwork,  in  840 


THE  TARTARS 


41 


characters,  on  satin,  and  sent  it  as  a souvenir  to 
her  absent  lord.  This  dainty  piece  of  needlework 
is  as  celebrated  as  is  the  Bayeux  tapestry  on 
which  the  Norman  invasion  of  England  is  de- 
picted. In  China  it  is  the  original  of  many  such 
works  in  the  same  style. 

Chinese  art,  thought,  and  literature  reflect  this 
long  struggle  with  the  Tartars.  There  are  two 
reasons  why  the  South  is  always  associated  with 
what  is  sunny  and  pleasant,  and  is  looked  upon 
as  the  source  of  all  that  is  good  and  desirable,  — 
peace,  calm,  abundance,  fruit,  spice,  treasure, 
commerce,  and  civilization  ; while  the  North  is  the 
quarter  whence  come  cold,  storm,  death,  disease, 
evil  influences,  war,  and  the  Tartars.  Of  the  two 
reasons,  one  arises  from  nature  and  the  weather, 
the  other  is  the  lengthened  shadow  of  history 
lying  athwart  the  national  memory. 

Yet  in  the  age-long  clash  between  Chinese 
civilization  and  Tartar  barbarism  there  were 
many  mutual  gains.  The  southerners  learned  many 
a lesson,  and  adopted  from  their  neighbors  not 
a few  articles  of  food  and  other  material  advan- 
tages, while  the  northerners  absorbed  Chinese 
culture  for  their  own  good.  The  contact  of  the 
two  peoples  for  their  mutual  benefit  has  been 
much  like  that  of  our  American  people  with  the 
Indians,  who  gave  us  tobacco,  maple  sugar,  maize, 
the  snow-shoe,  the  bark  canoe,  and  many  articles 
of  food.  Almost  aU  distinctive  American  dishes. 


42 


CHINA’S  STORY 


besides  our  best  native  fruits,  grains,  and  berries, 
have  been  developed  from  Indian  or  native  origi- 
nals. So  also  the  debt  of  the  Chinese  to  the  Tar- 
tars is  very  great.  It  is  true  that  the  very  learned 
Terrien  de  la  Couperie  tried  to  trace  at  least  one 
hundred  and  sixty  items  of  civilization  in  China  to 
W estern  sources ; but  the  great  body  of  critical 
scholars  believe  that  in  the  Chinese  Empire  itself 
arose  most  of  what  is  now  part  and  parcel  of  the 
civilization  of  China. 

In  a word,  as  some  writers  contend,  the  real 
history  of  the  Chinese  Empire  is  as  much  that  of 
the  Tartars  as  of  the  Chinese.  In  the  slow  evolu- 
tion of  the  ages,  and  especially  during  the  reign 
of  the  dynasty  ruling  from  1644  into  the  twentieth 
century,  itself  Tartar,  the  two  peoples  have  vir- 
tually blended  together.  Through  alien  pressure, 
and  in  presence  of  foreign  aggressions,  they  have 
become  one. 


CHAPTER  V 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS 

Told  for  centuries  by  wise  men,  parents,  and 
nurses  around  the  family  fire  in  winter,  under  the 
trees  in  summer,  or  by  the  lamp  in  spring  or 
autumn,  every  old  country  has  many  hero  and 
wonder  tales  stored  in  the  national  memory. 

In  each  nation  the  hero  must  be  the  kind  of 
man  admired  of  the  people,  and  very  much  like 
popular  living  men,  but  greater  in  every  way.  He 
must  represent  the  nation’s  ideal  of  a great  and 
good  man.  He  must  be  crafty,  strong,  or  brave, 
like  Jacob,  Samson,  or  David ; powerful  like 
Charlemagne,  full  of  energy  like  Napoleon,  or 
noble  like  Lincoln.  If  the  real  man  did  not  actu- 
ally have  these  traits,  the  romancers  clothe  him 
with  them  in  fiction.  Most  of  the  ancient  demi- 
gods, saints,  and  heroes  would  never  know  them- 
selves if  they  could  look  into  the  mirror  of  modern 
fancy.  The  value  of  these  oft-told  stories  about 
great  men  is  to  reflect  opinion  and  show  what 
ought  to  be,  as  well  as  what  is.  Story-tellers 
usually  drop  what  is  displeasing,  and  keep  only 
what  is  lovely  or  exciting  to  tell.  Mythology  is 
rich  in  literary  candy  and  sweets.  Children  like 


44 


CHINA’S  STORY 


these  best,  and  in  the  childhood  of  the  race  the 
taste  of  hearers  requires  what  is  suited  to  the 
palate. 

Chinese  fathers  want  their  sons  to  be  like  the 
men  who  lived  in  the  morning  of  creation.  Every 
mother  in  the  eighteen  provinces  hopes  that  her 
daughters  will  imitate  the  women  of  antiquity.  All 
over  the  Chinese  world,  on  the  7th  of  August,  is 
the  feast  of  the  Starry  Weaver  Maiden,  whose 
graces  and  accomplishments  every  Chinese  girl 
hopes  to  have.  Their  early  heroes  are  wonderfully 
like  the  popular  men  of  modern  China.  If,  there- 
fore, the  Chinese  ideal  is  linked  with  toil,  then  their 
first  man,  or  Adam,  must  be  a tremendous  worker 
with  his  hands.  Incessant  labor  is  the  lot  of 
China’s  millions.  In  Chinese  fairy  tales,  the 
naughty  boy  or  girl  is  lazy,  the  good  one  is  always 
notably  industrious. 

This  is  so  true  that  in  China  when  any  one  wants 
to  show  that  he  is  rich  and  does  not  have  to  toil 
with  his  hands,  he  lets  his  finger-nails  grow  long, 
sometimes  even  until  they  become  like  Nebuchad- 
nezzar’s talons.  They  look  first  like  birds’  claws, 
and  then  like  switches.  Little  bamboo  splints,  or 
ivory  supports,  are  used  to  keep  them  straight 
and  prevent  breakage,  so  that  these  signs  of  lux- 
ury may  be  trained  as  upon  a trellis.  Manicuring 
is  an  old  art  with  the  Chinese,  but  it  is  more  like 
vine-dressing  than  with  us.  Portraits  of  persons  of 
leisure  show  this.  Empresses,  who  wear  a sort  of 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  45 


long,  golden  thimble  on  their  finger  tips,  are  thus 
represented. 

When  the  Chinese  think  of  creation,  they  tell 
us  about  the  first  being,  who  was  named  Pan  Ku. 
He  was  placed  on  the  earth,  when  sky  and  ground 
were  all  one,  to  reduce  chaos  to  order  and  to  pound, 
chisel,  and  carve  the  earth  until  it  got  into  proper 
shape.  The  mighty  giant  had  a chisel  in  one  hand 
and  a mallet  in  the  other.  For  eighteen  thousand 
years  he  began  work  every  morning  early  and  kept 
up  his  task  until  dark.  As  he  toiled,  he  increased 
in  stature,  so  that  gradually  he  was  able  to  push 
up  the  heavens  and  expand  the  earth,  making  it 
more  solid  and  shapely.  He  held  the  sun  and  moon 
in  his  hands.  At  last,  in  a rough  way  indeed,  the 
world  was  fit  for  human  beings  to  live  upon. 

Then  Pan  Ku  died,  but  in  his  death  he  did  al- 
most as  much  to  make  the  world  habitable  as  dur- 
ing his  life,  for  the  products  of  the  decay  of  his 
body  gave  the  earth  its  furniture.  His  head  be- 
came mountains ; his  breath,  winds  and  clouds ; 
his  voice,  thunder ; his  left  eye  the  sun,  and  his 
right  eye  the  moon.  His  limbs  were  changed  into 
the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  his  five  ex- 
tremities into  the  five  great  mountains  famous  in 
Chinese  history.  His  sinews  became  the  undula- 
tions of  the  earth’s  surface,  his  blood  the  rivers, 
his  muscles  and  veins  the  strata  of  the  earth,  his 
flesh  the  soil,  his  hair  and  beard  the  stars  and  con- 
stellations, his  skin  and  the  hairs  on  it  plants  and 


46 


CHINA’S  STORY 


trees,  his  teeth  and  bones  metals,  and  his  marrow 
pearls  and  precious  stones.  The  sweat  of  his  body 
turned  into  rain,  and  then,  as  the  last  particles  of 
his  mortal  frame  were  blown  upon  by  the  wind, 
the  parasites,  or,  as  we  should  call  them,  microbes, 
turned  into  human  beings. 

The  Chinese  and  the  Scandinavian  theories  of 
creation  are  much  alike. 

There  were  many  giants  on  the  earth  in  those 
days.  There  always  are  in  ancient  stories.  Some 
of  the  big  fellows,  being  unruly,  had  to  be  kept 
in  order.  So  three  rulers  in  succession,  called  the 
heavenly,  the  earthly,  and  the  human  sovereigns, 
each  of  them  living  eighteen  thousand  years,  ruled 
the  world.  Gradually  the  inhabitants  learned  to 
do  many  things,  becoming  thus  less  brutish  and 
more  human.  They  had  homes  and  families.  Chil- 
dren knew  their  fathers.  As  yet,  however,  they 
lived  in  caves,  in  holes  in  the  ground,  or  among  the 
branches  of  the  trees,  and  ate  their  food  raw.  The 
earth  was  full  of  horrible  beasts  and  reptiles,  and 
the  trees  and  vegetation  were  rougher  than  at 
present  and  furnished  little  food  for  man.  Grad- 
ually better  breeds  of  animals  came  into  being, 
and  some  of  these  were  tamed  for  human  service. 
Certainly  no  race  has  excelled  the  Chinese  in  tam- 
ing animals,  beasts,  birds,  reptiles,  and  fish  for  the 
service  of  man. 

After  Pan  Ku  and  the  three  early  sovereigns, 
there  followed  a ruler  who  instructed  men  in  the 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  47 


building  of  “ wooden  nesta  ” or  houses.  Then  the 
Fire  Maker  showed  men  how  to  rub  one  stick 
against  another  until  smoke  and  flame  came  forth. 
He  also  taught  them  to  count  and  record  days, 
months,  and  years  by  tying  knots  with  strings. 
From  this  time  on,  men  cooked  their  food,  softened 
many  hard  things  by  fire,  hot  water,  and  steam,  and 
kept  warm  in  cold  weather. 

One  must  not  ask,  nor  try  to  answer,  too  many 
questions  about  these  old  stories.  Myths  are  mir- 
rors of  belief.  They  are  very  useful  in  showing 
what  the  Chinese  believed  about  their  ancestors. 
These,  they  thought,  rose  from  very  humble  be- 
ginnings and  passed  through  periods  of  lowest 
savagery,  which  is  a kind  of  life  not  very  far 
lifted  up,  either  in  habits  or  in  states  of  mind, 
from  that  of  the  brutes.  Then  they  merged  into  a 
condition  one  stage  higher,  barbarism,  in  which 
there  were  arts  and  crafts,  by  which  men  avail 
themselves  of  the  forces  and  resources  of  nature 
and  gain  health,  comforts,  and  time  for  thought. 
The  first  is  an  age  of  long  processes,  the  other  of 
distinct  events. 

This  unknown  period  of  early  beginnings  men 
fill  up  with  mythology  and  fairy  tales,  because 
they  cannot  now  tell  exactly  what  took  place,  any 
more  than  a child  can  remember  what  happened 
in  its  infancy.  There  are  no  records,  for  there 
was  then  no  writing,  but  only  rude  picture  signs, 
such  as  Indians  and  Esquimaux  use.  In  the  next 


48 


CHINA’S  STORY 


age  certain  great  happenings  stand  out  by  them- 
selves, such  as  a flood,  a famine,  an  earthquake  or 
pestilence  which  destroys  many  lives.  The  happy 
events,  such  as  the  introduction  of  a new  article 
of  food  or  drink,  the  discovery  of  metals,  a sure 
remedy  for  diseases,  or  an  invention  that  saves 
toil  or  gives  beauty,  are  long  remembered. 

In  this  period  also  there  are  great  civilizers, 
who  teach  marriage  and  politeness,  medicine  and 
agriculture,  the  catching  of  fish,  and  the  rearing 
of  domestic  animals.  They  show  how  hemp  may 
be  woven  into  cloths,  or  how  silkworms  may  be 
made  to  yield  shining  fibres  for  beautiful  dresses. 
Some  make  musical  instruments  and  draw  sweet 
sounds  therefrom,  or  they  invent  writing,  and 
thus  store  up  and  hand  down,  even  after  death, 
ideas,  information,  and  records  of  events.  With 
what  the  steel  point  scratches  on  bamboo,  or  the 
brush  pen  puts  with  ink  on  paper,  men  may  be 
moved  by  history,  eloquence,  or  poetry.  Then  the 
drama  and  the  theatre  come  into  existence. 

In  time,  these  great  men  who  were  inventors 
are  supposed  to  have  been  “gods.”  Gratitude 
turns  to  adoration,  prayer,  and  honors  paid  to 
their  memory.  Craftsmen,  guilds  and  companies, 
cities  and  provinces,  adopt  them  as  their  patron 
gods  or  saints.  The  painters  attempt  to  represent 
their  faces.  Legend,  poetry,  the  drama,  pro- 
verbs, and  art  make  their  names  and  their  sup- 
posed features,  as  shown  in  their  portraits,  so  fa- 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  49 


miliar  that  they  become  very  real  to  the  people. 
Where  we  foreigners,  visiting  a temple  in  Canton, 
or  seeing  a collection  of  dolls,  images,  idols,  or 
pictures  in  Ningpo,  behold  only  strangeness  and 
oddity,  the  natives  of  China  recognize  benefactors 
and  familiar  friends,  whose  names  are  to  them 
as  household  words.  As  the  thirteen  stripes  and 
cluster  of  stars  suggest  the  independent  thirteen 
colonies  which  became  the  United  States,  or  as 
an  axe  and  rails  recall  Abraham  Lincoln,  so  to 
the  Chinese  mind  the  cock  standing  on  the  drum 
means  peace,  the  sacred  unicorn  prosperity,  and 
a score  of  other  symbols  bring  to  memory  famous 
events  in  the  long  and  glorious  history  of  China, 
— the  oldest  of  states. 

The  legendary  age  extends  from  2852  b.  c.  to 
the  historical  period,  which  begins  about  800 
B.  c.,  after  which  we  have  clearly  written  accounts 
of  men  who  did  things  at  a fixed  date,  and  who 
lived  very  much  nearer  in  time  to  the  men  who 
wrote  about  them.  The  Chinese  have  no  history 
before  800  B.  c.,  and  the  Japanese  none  before 
400  A.  D.  Yet,  like  Europeans  of  all  sorts,  they 
claim  vast  age,  which  has  only  lately  manufac- 
tured tradition  to  support  it. 

All  the  languages  of  mankind  may  be  divided 
into  a few  families.  The  Aryan  has  inflections, 
gender,  number,  person,  and  case,  and  the  root  is 
changeable  in  form.  The  Semitic  has  tri-literal 
roots.  The  Turanian  is  agglutinative,  extra  pieces 


50 


CHINA’S  STORY 


or  parts  of  speech  being  glued  on  to  the  unchange- 
able root.  Now,  Chinese  is  perhaps  the  oldest 
written,  living  language  in  the  world,  but  the 
very  fact  that  it  began  to  be  written  so  early  pre- 
vented its  growth.  Infants  learn  to  talk  in  single 
syllables.  Chinese  is  the  baby  talk  of  the  ancient 
world,  too  early  fixed  in  form  by  written  charac- 
ters, and  has  little  or  no  grammar.  It  is  monosyl- 
labic. The  poverty  of  sounds  is  made  into  richness 
by  a system  of  tones,  so  that  one  syllable  may 
have  many  meanings,  according  as  it  is  intoned. 

That  is  the  main  reason  why  it  is  so  hard  for 
us  to  hold  Chinese  names  in  our  mind.  There  are 
no  long  words,  and  even  proper  names  are  made 
of  monosyllables.  If  we  do  not  know  the  language 
by  eye  or  ear,  it  is  only  by  making  Chinese 
words  and  names  look  and  sound  like  our  own 
that  we  can  easily  remember  them,  as  we  see  in 
the  case  of  names  of  places  and  Latin  forms  like 
Confucius,  Mongolia,  Manchuria,  etc. 

Hence,  also,  the  very  short  names  of  the  early 
founders  of  Chinese  order.  To  read  of  them  and 
what  they  did  is  like  perusing  the  early  chapters 
of  Genesis.  Thus  Tsi,  now  worshiped  as  the  god 
of  agriculture,  was  Director  of  Husbandry.  Shen 
Nung,  the  Divine  Husbandman,  first  fashioned 
timber  into  ploughs  and  taught  men  farming. 
He  discovered  the  curative  virtues  of  plants  and 
began  the  practice  of  holding  markets.  He  devel- 
oped the  scheme  of  the  eight  diagrams,  on  which 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  61 


philosophy  is  based,  into  sixty-four.  Hi  Chung, 
director  of  chariots  under  Yu  the  Great,  taught 
men  to  apply  horses  in  draught,  and  ploughs  and 
wheeled  vehicles  in  place  of  human  labor.  An- 
other introduced  the  grapevine  and  showed  men 
how  to  make  wine.  Ling  Lun  began  the  art  of 
music.  In  medical  science,  one  physician  dissected 
the  human  body,  learned  about  its  internal  parts 
and  the  blood  channels,  and  set  forth  a theory  of 
the  pulses.  One  of  his  successors,  long  afterward, 
was  very  skilful  in  acupuncture,  or  needle  sur- 
gery, and  by  this  means  relieved  an  emperor  of 
cerebral  disease.  Li  Show  was  the  inventor  of 
the  art  of  notation,  and  drew  up  the  nine  sections 
of  mathematics.  In  order  to  measure  the  earth, 
that  is,  the  known  dominions,  Tai  Chang  paced 
the  earth  from  its  eastern  to  its  western  border, 
while  Shu  Hai  performed  the  same  task  from 
north  to  south,  by  which  means  its  length  and 
breadth  were  ascertained.  To  these  early  people 
“ the  earth  ’’  meant  China. 

Indeed,  most  Chinese  precedents  are  drawn 
from  this  age,  which  we  may  call  that  of  the 
Yellow  Emperor,  Whang  Ti  (b.  c.  2697),  who 
was  surrounded  by  eminent  men  of  light  and 
leading,  whose  names  are  famous.  Of  course,  the 
Chinese,  though  now  a very  peaceful  people, 
must  have  a god  of  war.  All  old  nations  did. 
Yeo  was  a great  rebel,  who  was  beaten  by  the 
Yellow  Emperor.  He  headed  a confederacy  of 


52 


CHINA’S  STORY 


eighty-one  brothers  who  talked  like  men,  but  who 
had  the  bodies  of  beasts  and  fed  on  dust.  They 
made  war  weapons  and  oppressed  the  people  until 
Whang  Ti  marched  to  chastise  them.  On  the 
day  of  battle,  Yeo  called  on  the  wind  god  and 
rain  lord  to  aid  him,  but  when  a mighty  tempest 
rose,  the  Yellow  Emperor  sent  his  ally,  the 
Daughter  of  Heaven,  to  quell  the  storm.  Then  he 
slew  the  rebel,  whose  spirit  went  up  and  occupied 
the  planet  Mars,  which  still  influences  the  issues 
of  battle.  Verily  this  was  a war  of  Titans.  Yeo 
was  the  first  to  produce  disorder,  but  is  reputed 
to  be  the  inventor  of  weapons  and  of  astrology. 

Two  great  men,  Yao  and  Shun,  are  to  the  Chi- 
nese very  much  what  Abraham  and  Moses  are  to 
the  Semitic  peoples.  Chinese  gentlemen  will  say, 
and  believe  what  they  are  telling  you,  that  there 
is  hardly  anything  in  the  China  of  to-day  that  was 
not  in  the  minds  or  plans  of  Yao  and  Shun.  The 
reign  of  one  began  B.  C.  2356,  and  of  the  other, 
his  associate,  B.  c.  2285.  As  with  most  national 
worthies,  we  have  wonderful  stories  as  to  what 
their  fond  mothers  thought  of  them,  even  before 
they  were  born.  The  mother  of  u the  Great 
gave  him  birth  after  seeing  a falling  star  and 
swallowing  a divine  pearl.  The  three,  considered 
as  peerless  in  wisdom  and  virtue,  have  been  im- 
mortalized by  Confucius  and  Mencius,  and  glori- 
fied beyond  measure  by  later  writers. 

Theirs  was  the  golden  age  which  it  is  the  object 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  53 


of  the  good  men  of  to-day  to  bring  back  to  the 
earth.  Yao  began  great  works,  but  selected  Shun, 
because  of  his  filial  piety,  to  complete  them.  In 
Yao’s  time  a great  flood  covered  the  country,  the 
water  rising  even  to  the  tops  of  the  mountains. 
This  overflow,  which  destroyed  fields  and  houses, 
was  probably  a change  in  the  channel  of  the  Yel- 
low River.  After  nine  years  of  incredible  toil,  dur- 
ing which  he  took  heed  neither  to  food  nor  cloth- 
ing, and  thrice  passed  by  the  door  of  his  home 
without  stopping,  even  when  he  heard  the  wailing 
of  his  infant  son  within,  Yu  brought  the  waters 
under  control.  Then  he  divided  the  empire  into 
nine  provinces.  Agriculture  was  taught  and  a cal- 
endar was  begun,  by  having  men  watch  the  motions 
of  the  stars  and  planets.  To  accept  the  Chinese 
calendar  has  ever  been  a mark  of  loyal  vassalage 
to  the  Chinese  emperor.  Shun  also  improved  the 
ritual  of  religion  and  ordained  a code  of  punish- 
ments. 

It  is  the  peculiarity  of  nearly  all  ancient  writing 
and  religion,  and  the  mark  usually  of  age,  both  in 
individuals  and  in  nations,  to  assert  vehemently  that 
the  past  was  better  than  the  present,  and  things 
are  not  as  they  used  to  be,  either  in  ancient  times 
or  when  “ we  were  children.”  With  every  succeed- 
ing age  glorifying  the  former  one,  and  the  story- 
teller always  embellishing  what  went  before,  there 
is  piled  up  a vast  mass  of  unconscious  exaggera- 
tion. The  past  “ wins  a glory  by  its  being  far.”  In 


54 


CHINA’S  STORY 


those  distant  days  in  China,  nobody  stole  any- 
thing, or  locked  his  doors  at  night,  and  things 
dropped  on  the  road  were  never  picked  up  by  any 
but  the  owner.  In  a word,  as  among  savages,  pri- 
vate ownership,  or  property,  was  unknown.  Every- 
thing was  held  in  common.  Morals  were  of  the 
community,  not  of  the  individual. 

The  virtues  and  prosperous  government  of  the 
two  celebrated  sovereigns,  Yao  and  Shun,  are  com- 
memorated in  a phrase  of  four  characters,  the  syno- 
nym for  prosperity,  and  reading  literally  “ Yao 
Heaven,  Shun  sun  ” ; or,  in  full,  “ Heaven  favor- 
ing, as  in  the  days  of  Yao ; and  the  sun  resplend- 
ent, or  the  day  prosperous,  as  in  the  time  of 
Shun.”  Another  phrase  is  “ Pearls  strung  together 
and  the  tally  of  gems  united,”  meaning  bril- 
liancy and  concord.  When  Yao  had  completed  the 
seventieth  year  of  his  reign  at  the  winter  solstice, 
the  five  planets  were  in  conjunction  and  the  sun 
and  moon  stood  opposite  to  each  other. 

Learned  men’s  essays  and  Chinese  literature  in 
general,  but  especially  of  the  elegant  sort,  are 
full  of  such  terse  phrases,  which  make  sentences 
sparkle  and  delight  cultured  readers.  No  lan- 
guage is  as  luxurious  as  the  Chinese  in  allusions 
to  ancient  stories,  anecdotes  of  famous  people,  or 
places  and  things  delightful.  It  is  no  wonder  the 
Chinese  love  their  favorite  authors,  whose  texts  are 
a mosaic  rich  in  pleasing  images. 

Chinese  notions  of  eclipses  were  those  of  prim- 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  65 


itive  man  everywhere.  It  was  especially  charged 
upon  the  two  earliest  astronomers  that  they  should 
give  warning  of  a solar  eclipse.  According  to  the 
tradition,  these  men  neglected  their  duty  and  be- 
came riotous  and  drunken.  An  eclipse  having 
come  on  without  notice,  the  pair  were  put  to  death. 

The  great  mass  of  ignorant  people  in  China  are 
still  terrified  when  they  see  during  the  daytime 
untimely  darkness,  and  the  birds  going  to  roost  in 
the  premature  twilight.  Believing  that  a great 
dragon  in  the  sky  is  swallowing  the  luminary,  they 
beat  gongs,  drums,  and  tom-toms,  blow  horns  and 
whistles,  and  by  every  kind  of  hideous  noise  try 
to  frighten  the  monster  away  or  make  him  dis- 
gorge his  prey.  When  full  light  comes  again,  they 
imagine  they  have  succeeded.  Similar  ideas  pre- 
vailed in  ancient  Europe. 

The  dragon  is  also  the  symbol  of  what  is  most 
precious.  It  is  believed  that  pearls  endowed  with 
peculiar  virtues  of  magic  and  blessing  are  carried 
by  dragons  upon  their  foreheads.  We  see  them 
playing  with  one  another  and  the  jewels,  or,  su- 
premely strenuous,  they  contend  in  dire  conflict 
for  the  possession  of  the  prizes.  One  of  the  most 
common  representations  on  works  of  art  is  that  of 
two  dragons,  that  are  struggling  for,  or,  it  may  be, 
guarding  a precious  gem.  This  is  a picture,  in 
symbol,  of  the  terrific  struggle  of  the  forces  of  the 
universe,  as  manifested  in  storm,  cyclone,  typhoon, 
earthquake,  tidal  wave,  volcanic  eruption,  or  the 


56 


CHINA’S  STORY 


phenomena  of  the  skies,  ocean,  and  land.  On  the 
Chinese  national  flag  the  dragon  is  the  emblem  of 
authority.  Although  the  Chinese  did  not  know  the 
theory  of  the  tides,  and  the  effect  which  the  moon 
has  upon  the  sea  and  its  waters,  yet  they  associ- 
ated the  moon,  or  the  precious  pearl  among  the 
moving  clouds  in  the  sky,  with  the  pulses  of  the 
ocean.  A common  representation  in  bronze  and 
crystal  is  that  of  dragons  seizing,  contending  for, 
or  controlling  the  crystal  ball  or  pearl,  which  re- 
presents the  moon.  Hence  the  dragon  is  used  as  a 
symbol  of  commerce  and  fortunate  voyages,  or  the 
hope  of  such,  and  on  paper  money. 

We  meet  the  dragon  very  often  in  fairyland. 
The  shrine  of  the  king  of  the  world  beneath  the 
sea  is  under  his  guardianship.  He  guides  the  daring 
voyager  into  strange  seas  and  to  the  treasure  castle 
on  far-off  islands.  He  loves  music,  and  can  be  di- 
verted by  the  sound  of  the  lute.  He  delivers  the 
hero  out  of  his  dangers,  and  brings  the  princess 
safely  to  joy  and  peace.  In  their  dreams,  Chinese 
children,  and  especially  ambitious  students,  ride 
on  the  backs  of  dragons  and  go  soaring  through 
the  air  and  over  mountains  and  sea,  or  they  travel 
on  these  coursers  into  strange  lands,  or  go  down 
beneath  the  ocean’s  bed.  In  serious  thought  the 
dragon  is  the  symbol  of  that  with  which  the  im- 
pious may  not  fool  or  trifle,  and  whose  powers  none 
may  mock  or  defy. 

One  would  need  a library  to  tell  of  all  the  stories 


ABOUT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THINGS  57 


of  dragons  in  the  lore  and  art  of  Japan,  Korea, 
and  other  nations  under  Chinese  culture.  In  geo- 
graphy an  amazing  number  of  features  of  the 
landscape  take  their  name  from  some  part  of  the 
dragon’s  body,  head,  tail,  eye,  or  mouth.  The  suc- 
cessful students  at  examinations  are  called  dragons. 
The  emblem  of  their  success  is  either  the  dragon 
or  the  tiger.  The  Son  of  Heaven,  the  emperor,  and 
his  high  ministers,  and  all  the  imperial  attributes 
are  associated  with  this  divinely  constituted  crea- 
ture, and  the  seat  of  power  is  called  the  Dragon’s 
Seat.  Hence,  around  the  imperial  throne  of  China 
the  dragon  is  carved  in  the  richest  wood  and 
rarest  stones.  The  emperor’s  face  is  the  Dragon 
Countenance,  and  his  carriage  the  Dragon’s 
Chariot. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT 

Chinese  society  rests  for  its  longevity  upon 
the  principle  contained  in  the  fifth  commandment 
in  the  decalogue  of  Moses.  In  China,  the  church- 
nation,  filial  piety  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all 
order,  and  its  typical  saints  are  those  who  most 
highly  honor  their  parents.  It  is  related  of  Shun 
(b.  c.  2317-2208),  that,  though  cruelly  treated  by 
his  father,  who  had  taken  a new  wife  and  favored 
her  offspring,  he  in  nowise  lessened  his  dutiful 
conduct  toward  his  parents  or  his  regard  for  his 
step-brother.  The  good  boy  was  rewarded  even 
by  the  beasts,  so  that  they  came  to  help  him  drag 
his  plough,  while  the  birds  weeded  the  fields  for 
him.  He  also  made  pottery  and  caught  fish  for 
his  step-parent  and  brother,  though  they  still  per- 
secuted him.  They  even  set  fire  to  his  house,  and 
then,  getting  him  to  go  into  a deep  well,  tried  to 
put  him  out  of  the  way,  but  in  every  case  his  life 
was  miraculously  preserved. 

In  Chinese  literature  there  are  twenty -four 
stories  of  twenty  - three  sons  and  one  daughter 
who  illustrated  filial  piety  in  their  unswerving 
obedience,  and  in  the  unselfish  sacrifices  they 
made  for  their  parents.  It  rather  amuses  the 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT  69 


Occidental  to  find  so  many  boys  and  only  one  girl 
thus  canonized.  We  recognize  these  characters  in 
the  storybooks,  in  pictures  on  plates,  cups,  and 
vases,  and  in  many  forms  of  art  in  China  and 
J apan.  Putnam  and  the  wolf,  George  Washington 
and  his  cherry  tree,  Betsy  Ross  and  her  flag,  are 
not  better  known  to  us  than  are  these  paragons 
to  the  Chinese. 

We  must  not  forget  that  classic  China,  where 
these  worthies  lived,  with  fewer  than  a million 
people  in  it,  comprised  only  parts  of  three  north- 
ern provinces.  The  neighboring  aborigines  had 
not  been  wholly  subdued,  though  peaceful  mea- 
sures were  gradually  winning  them  over.  So  long 
as  they  remained  quiet,  they  were  allowed  to  live 
on  the  soil,  gradually  becoming  Chinese. 

All  land  in  theory  belonged  to  the  ruler,  who 
gave  certificates  of  ownership,  part  of  the  produce 
being  paid  to  him  for  the  support  of  order.  Where 
the  ruler  lived  was  the  capital.  This  was  in  the 
centre  of  five  squares,  of  different  sizes,  inclosed 
one  within  another.  The  central  one  was  called 
the  Royal  Domain.  The  Noble’s  Tenure,  or  next 
square,  consisted  of  lands  allotted  to  the  great 
officers.  The  .Region  of  Tranquil  Tenure,  the 
Territory  of  Aliens,  and  the  Wild  Domain  fol- 
lowed in  their  order.  In  these  five  squares  lived 
the  nine  different  grades  of  people,  from  the  ruler 
and  his  household  to  the  savages  in  the  distant 
regions  where  civilization  was  unknown.  Those 


60 


CHINA’S  STORY 


living  in  the  square  nearest  the  capital  paid  the 
highest  taxes,  and  those  at  the  greatest  distance 
the  lightest. 

Gradually  government  changed  from  the  simple 
patriarchal  form,  in  which  the  head  of  a tribe 
ruled  his  people,  as  if  all  were  in  one  family,  into 
a monarchy,  where  there  was  a king,  with  grades 
of  society,  — the  nobles,  the  higher  order  of  citi- 
zens, the  lower  orders,  the  half  subdued,  and  the 
utterly  wild,  — each  class  paying  taxes  according 
to  ability.  Thus  by  slow  evolution  the  form  of 
government  approached  that  of  to-day.  In  reality 
China  has  passed  through  many  varieties  of  gov- 
ernment, but  the  nation  is  one  family  and  the 
emperor  is  the  father  of  his  people. 

All  religions  are  less  complicated  and  more 
simple  as  we  ascend  the  stream  of  time.  There 
were  no  idols  or  temples,  or  any  caste  of  priests, 
in  early  China.  Worship  was  offered  to  the  Su- 
preme Ruler;  to  the  Six  Objects  of  Honor,  to 
hills  and  rivers,  and  to  the  hosts  of  spirits.  Many 
scholars  translate  the  term  Shang-ti  by  our  word 
God.  A sentence  from  Confucius,  in  ten  charac- 
ters, in  his  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,  or  Middle 
Way,  is  thus  put  into  English:  “In  the  cere- 
monies at  the  altars  of  Heaven  and  Earth  they 
served  God.”  In  spirit  and  form,  ancient  Chinese 
religion  was  but  slightly  different  from  that  of 
the  ancient  Semites.  The  Temple  of  Heaven  in 
Peking,  mostly  of  white  marble,  in  three  stories. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT  61 


is  roofed  with  blue  tiles,  as  if  to  represent  the 
azure  of  the  sky.  Dr.  Legge  put  off  his  shoes  in 
visiting  this  sacred  place.  In  1900,  the  British 
cavalry  made  a stable  of  it ! 

Ancient  worship  was  graded.  When  we  first 
know  anything  of  Chinese  ancestral  worship,  we 
find  this  to  be  the  form  of  their  religion.  Only 
the  emperor  offered  sacrifice  to  the  spirits  of  his 
imperial  progenitors,  the  province  governors  to 
the  spirits  of  Earth  and  Heaven,  and  the  common 
people  to  their  ancestors. 

In  all  ancient  cults,  however,  what  a man  neg- 
lected to  do  was  even  more  significant  than  what 
he  performed.  It  was  believed  that  the  spirits  of 
the  forefathers  had  great  powers  of  evil,  as  well 
as  of  good.  Therefore  to  neglect  honoring  the  an- 
cestors might  mean  frightful  disasters  from  water, 
fire,  or  pestilence. 

When  scholars  tell  us  about  the  ancient  re- 
ligion of  China,  as  described  in  or  learned  from 
the  books,  we  must  remember  that  this  lofty  faith 
was  practiced  in  its  purity  only  by  the  most  intel- 
ligent and  devout.  The  great  mass,  the  ignorant, 
the  vulgar,  the  stupid,  the  brutal  and  wicked  held 
to  debasing  habits  and  notions.  Beast-worship, 
belief  in  fox  and  wolf  possession,  witchcraft  and 
resort  to  magic,  and  a degrading  fear  of  evil 
spirits,  were  and  are  general.  In  China,  as  in 
other  countries,  there  is  a great  gulf  between  the 
theory  and  the  practice  of  religion. 


62 


CHINA’S  STORY 


In  China,  whether  pre-ancient  or  of  to-day,  the 
unit  of  society  is  not  the  individual,  but  the 
family.  The  happiness  or  unhappiness  of  the  in- 
dividual is  nothing  in  itself,  that  of  the  family  is 
everything.  Equality  and  fraternity  are  written 
on  the  Chinese  heart,  and  the  idea  of  education  is 
to  inspire  family  affection.  There  is  no  other 
country  in  the  world  where  the  family  idea  is  so 
prominent  or  its  unity  so  safeguarded. 

Oriental  civilization  is  communal,  not  indi- 
vidual. Even  the  language  mirrors  the  state  of  so- 
ciety. There  are  no  true  personal  pronouns,  few 
ways  or  none  of  expressing  individuality,  no 
personification  in  poetry,  while  the  whole  speech 
is  impersonal  to  the  last  degree.  Many  words 
common  to  us  cannot  be  translated  directly  into 
these  languages,  nor  theirs  into  ours,  for  there  are 
no  exact  equivalents.  It  is  like  making  change  as 
between  American  quarters  and  English  shillings, 
or  American  dollars  and  French  five-franc  pieces. 
One  can  come  only  near  to  a fair  exchange. 

With  us  the  husband  and  wife  begin  the  home, 
living,  as  a rule,  apart  from  their  parents.  In 
China  the  married  children  occupy  the  same  house 
with  the  son’s  parents.  If  a man  is  adopted  into 
another  family,  with  no  father  or  son  in  it,  he 
must,  in  order  to  become  its  head,  take  his  wife’s 
family  name.  Of  old  the  members  of  the  same 
family  lived  in  one  hamlet,  and  when  the  families 
increased  they  became  a clan,  which  was  supposed 


CIRCULAR  HOUSE,  INHABITED  BY  THE  MEMBERS  OF  ONE  CLAN 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT  63 


to  have  had  but  one  ancestor.  Even  to-day  in  re- 
mote villages,  all  the  people  form  one  household. 
One  great  house,  built  in  the  form  of  a circle,  or 
hollow  ring,  with  the  garden  in  the  centre  and  cul- 
tivated fields  outside,  may  hold  three  or  four  gen- 
erations in  many  families  who  make  up  one  clan, 
living  under  one  round  roof  for  better  protection 
against  robbers. 

This  prehistoric  division  of  the  people  into 
clans  is  reflected  in  the  very  small  number  of 
Chinese  family  names.  Ours,  like  Smith,  Jones, 
etc.,  are  large  in  number,  compared  to  the  Li, 
Sun,  Fan,  etc.,  of  the  “Hundred  Families ” of 
China.  In  all  matters  that  are  purely  local,  the 
head  of  the  family  or  clan  has  control.  There  is 
no  country  in  the  world  more  famous  for  its  local 
freedom,  and  no  larger  democracy  than  China. 
Yet  there  seems  lacking  a powerful  middle  class 
between  the  throne  and  the  people.  This  is  China’s 
great  need.  Local  customs  are  so  tenacious  as  to 
have  the  force  of  law,  and  with  these  customs 
or  binding  traditions  of  a place,  very  few  magis- 
trates, whether  emperors,  province  rulers,  mayors, 
or  village  elders,  dare  interfere. 

In  very,  very  early  days,  human  sacrifices  were 
as  common  in  eastern  Asia  as  in  Europe.  When 
the  master  died,  some,  often  many,  of  his  faith- 
ful servants,  yes,  even  his  wives,  died  with  him. 
Traces  of  this  custom  are  found  within  quite 
modern  times.  Among  the  beneficent  reforms 


64 


CHINA’S  STORY 


was  the  substitution  of  clay  figures,  and,  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  of  paper  effigies.  Memorial  tablets 
are  said  to  have  originated  B.  c.  350  in  honor  of  a 
courtier  who  had  given  his  own  flesh  to  save  the 
life  of  an  emperor.  Ancestor-worship  involved 
the  propitiation  of  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good 
spirits.  This  is  the  immediate  purpose  in  mind 
when  fire-crackers  are  set  off  by  the  Chinese  in 
their  burying-grounds  and  at  funerals  ; that  is,  to 
scare  off  the  spirits  that  would  work  harm.  In 
constant  fear  of  the  over-populated  world  of  the 
unseen,  the  Chinaman,  like  the  Japanese,  is  apt 
to  laugh  or  appear  gay,  when  announcing  bad 
news  or  telling  of  trouble,  especially  of  the  death 
of  near  friends.  It  is  a relic  of  the  old  dread  of 
evil  spirits  and  the  desire  of  not  letting  them 
know,  lest  they  might  seize  upon  the  departed.  A 
large  part  of  the  ritual  of  burial  is  intended  to 
fool  or  drive  away  the  goblins,  and  at  the  grave 
these  are  kept  off  by  fireworks.  This  is  the  real 
and  the  unconsciously  inherited  philosophy  of 
“ the  Japanese  smile.”  The  Chinese  grin  while 
bearing  pain,  or  announce  sad  news  with  apparent 
merriment. 

One  of  several  stories  illustrating  the  ancient 
custom  of  men  “ dying  with  the  master,”  or  of 
virgins  being  offered  to  appease  gods  and  mon- 
sters, is  that  of  “ giving  a wife  in  marriage  to 
the  river-god.”  It  also  shows  how  a brave  man 
abolished  a bad  custom.  A reforming  governor, 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT  65 


B.  c.  424,  found  that  the  ruling  elders  of  a certain 
city,  in  league  with  the  sorcerers  and  a chief  priest- 
ess, levied  money  on  the  people  and  then  selected  a 
pretty  maiden,  who  was  richly  dressed  and  thrown 
into  the  Yellow  River  to  meet  the  embraces  of 
the  god.  The  next  year  the  governor  seized  the 
chief  sorceress  and  some  of  her  associates  and 
tumbled  them  into  the  water  in  place  of  the  cus- 
tomary virgin.  After  that  the  river  lord,  or  god 
of  the  Yellow  River,  had  to  do  without  his  regular 
allowance. 

In  a pack  of  fire-crackers,  one  can  see  reflected 
the  order  of  ancient  society.  There  is,  first  of  all, 
the  one  yellow,  or  imperial  cracker.  That  stands 
for  the  emperor.  Various  green-tinted  crackers 
represent  the  nobles  and  magistrates  of  various 
ranks,  whom  we  call  “ mandarins.’^  The  great 
number  alike  and  of  the  same  color,  red,  tell  of 
the  populace  or  common  people,  who  are  “ made 
of  the  red  earth  and  to  the  red  earth  return.’* 
What  we  long  employed  to  celebrate  the  birth  of 
a new  nation,  July  4, 1776,  the  Chinese  used  ages 
ago  in  connection  with  funerals.  The  one  way  is 
about  as  civilized  as  the  other. 

When  Yu  succeeded  to  power,  b.  c.  2205,  there 
began  the  Hia  or  first  regular  Chinese  dynasty, 
which  lasted  to  B.  c.  1818.  It  was  so  named  after 
the  territory  now  in  the  province  of  Honan,  which 
was  given  to  Yu  the  Great,  for  his  services  in 
controlling  the  Yellow  River.  After  this  herculean 


66 


CHINA’S  STORY 


task,  he  gave  the  country  a good  government.  In 
order  to  be  close  to  the  people,  he  had  a drum, 
a gong,  a sounding-stone,  a wooden  bell,  and  a 
rattle  hung  outside  the  palace  walls.  These,  in 
their  order,  were  to  be  sounded  according  as  one 
came  to  instruct  the  king,  had  a suggestion  to 
offer,  came  to  tell  of  famine  or  rebellion,  appealed 
from  an  unjust  decision,  or  asked  for  justice. 
During  Yu’s  reign,  more  aboriginal  tribes  were 
conquered  and  the  realm  was  extended.  As  gold 
and  silver  were  now  mined,  stamped  money  took 
the  place  of  the  old-fashioned  barter. 

The  legends  of  the  era  show  the  influence  of 
both  good  and  wicked  women  as  well  as  men. 
They  make  it  plain,  also,  that  as  wealth  increased, 
luxury  and  cruelty  became  more  general.  The 
state  of  affairs  became  so  bad  that  one  Prince 
Tang,  a very  virtuous  man,  was,  in  B.  C.  1766,  pro- 
voked into  rebellion, — the  first  of  the  many  suc- 
cessful “ rebels  ” known  in  Chinese  history. 

On  the  occasion  of  a great  drought,  it  was  sup- 
posed that  the  wrath  of  Heaven  required  a human 
victim.  In  this  crisis,  the  emperor,  Tang,  after 
fastening  and  cutting  off  his  hair,  put  on  white 
robes,  and  in  a chariot  drawn  by  white  horses 
came  to  the  mulberry  grove  where  sacrifices  were 
offered.  Confessing  his  sins,  Tang  prayed  to 
Heaven  to  take  his  life  for  the  sins  of  the  people. 
Happily  at  this  moment  clouds  gathered,  rain 
fell,  and  his  life  was  spared.  The  Shang  or  Yin 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT  67 


dynasty,  which  he  founded,  endured  for  over  six 
hundred  years,  from  B.  c.  1766  to  B.  c.  1122.  Most 
of  the  twenty-six  rulers  were  of  little  personal 
importance. 

During  this  period,  in  addition  to  the  wild 
tribes  on  the  borders,  we  note  the  beginning  of 
the  long  struggle  between  the  Chinese  and  the 
northern  Tartars,  which  at  last,  after  thirty 
centuries,  ended  by  the  Manchus  subduing  the 
Chinese  in  war,  and  ruling  in  Peking.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Chinese  overcame  their  conquerors 
in  time  of  peace,  civilization  winning  greater  vic- 
tories than  those  of  bloodshed. 

Most  interesting  during  this  epoch  is  the  divi- 
sion of  the  arable  land  into  units  of  nine  equal 
squares.  Each  family  cultivated  its  own  block, 
while  the  ninth,  or  central  square,  was  worked 
in  common  by  all  and  its  produce  paid  to  the 
government  as  a tax.  Gradually  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  emperor,  who  ruled  by  divine  right  as 
the  father  of  his  people,  was  looked  upon  as  the 
favorite  of  the  Supreme  Ruler  and  was  called  the 
Son  of  Heaven,  as  we  have  seen. 

Probably  the  most  famous  man  of  this  period 
was  the  scholar  Ki  Tsze,  an  ancestor  of  Confucius, 
whom  the  Koreans  call  the  founder  of  their  civil- 
ization. He  was  the  author  of  part  of  the  classics. 
Vainly  protesting  against  the  wickedness  of  his 
sovereign,  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  but,  released 
in  1122,  he  went  to  Liao  Tung,  or  the  Far  East. 


68 


CHINA’S  STORY 


His  alleged  tomb  at  Ping  Yang  was  greatly  in- 
jured during  the  war  of  1894,  but  was  soon  re- 
paired. Around  a sacrificial  stone  table  and  drum 
are  the  effigies  of  horses  and  sheep,  as  at  the 
tombs  of  great  men  in  China.  Because  Ki  Tsze 
lived  before  Confucius,  the  Koreans  boast  an  an- 
tiquity greater  than  China’s  and  a “ civilization 
four  thousand  years  old.”  Y^et  they  have  no  real 
history  covering  half  this  period. 

With  the  defeat  of  Chou  Hsin,  in  1122,  the 
Divine  Prince,  Wu  Wang,  founded  the  famous 
Chow  dynasty,  lasting  from  B.  C.  1122  to  B.  c.  255, 
ushering  in  also  the  feudal  system,  so  brilliantly 
described  in  the  poetry  gathered  by  Confucius,  at 
which  we  shall  now  glance. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 

During  the  era  from  1122  to  255  b.  c.,  society 
in  China  was  organized  under  the  forms  of  the 
feudal  system.  Feudalism,  through  which  almost 
every  civilized  nation  has  passed,  is  in  substance 
much  the  same  all  over  the  world,  whatever  be  the 
time  or  the  people.  Hundreds  of  volumes  have 
been  written  on  this  subject,  telling  us  what  feu- 
dalism is  and  how  it  originated,  but  not  from  very 
many  writers  do  we  get  real  light.  Some  seem 
rather  to  increase  the  darkness. 

The  feudalism  of  Japan,  under  which  I had  the 
rare  experience  of  living,  in  1871,  during  the  last 
year  of  its  career,  was  seven  centuries  old,  and  was 
very  much  like  that  of  other  countries  and  ages. 
Indeed  one  reason,  and  the  chief  one,  for  the  dif- 
ference in  the  reputations  of  Chinese  and  Japanese 
merchants  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  China,  since 
feudalism  passed  away,  trade  has  been  honorable 
for  more  than  two  thousand  years.  In  Japan 
feudalism  was  not  abolished  until  1872,  and  until 
that  time  the  merchant  had  no  social  standing. 

In  feudalism  there  is  no  place  of  honor  for  the 
trader,  but  only  for  the  landowner  and  the  soldier. 
There  may  be  many  definitions  of  feudalism,  but 


70 


CHINA’S  STORY 


practically  in  this  state  of  society  there  are  only 
two  classes  of  people,  — those  who  own  land  and 
are  “somebody,”  and  those  who  are  landless  and 
are  “nobody.”  The  whole  basis  of  feudalism  is 
ownership  of  land.  All  the  territory,  instead  of 
being  owned  by  those  who  have  bought  or  who  till 
it,  belongs  to  men  of  varying  rank,  to  whom  it 
has  been  given  as  a reward  for  personal  service. 

In  such  a state  of  society  there  are  lords  and 
nobles,  and  in  some  countries  the  clergy  also,  as 
privileged  classes.  Yet  instead  of  many  classes  of 
the  people,  or  hundreds  of  ways  of  earning  a liv- 
ing, making  many  social  distinctions,  as  in  mod- 
ern life,  there  are  but  two  divisions  of  society,  — 
taxpayers  and  non-taxpayers.  The  peasantry  may 
consist  of  the  free  and  the  unfree,  that  is,  of  serfs 
and  farmers  who  have  certain  privileges  on  the  soil. 
“The  people  ” do  not  exist  politically.  They  have 
few  or  no  rights,  for  the  lord  of  the  land  owns 
everything,  — the  fish  in  the  water,  the  birds  in 
the  air,  the  beasts  in  the  forest,  and  the  treasures 
in  the  ground.  All  privileges  come  from  the  land- 
lord, who  permits  or  forbids,  exercising  authority 
in  even  the  smallest  affairs.  Yet  there  are  many 
picturesque  phases  of  human  life  and  generally  a 
great  diversity  of  color,  costume,  and  customs. 

In  the  feudal  system,  almost  all  relations  and 
usages  being  based  on  ownership  of  land,  the  chief 
characteristics  of  social  and  political  life  are  the 
relationships  of  lords  and  vassals.  In  such  a state 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


71 


of  society,  public  law  becomes  merged  into  private 
law,  so  that  office,  jurisdiction,  and  even  kingship 
are  forms  of  property.  The  tenures  of  land  are  in 
the  form  of  feuds,  that  is,  fees,  or  fiefs.  The  re- 
tainer is  bound  to  serve  his  lord  at  court  or  as  a 
soldier.  The  personal  note  of  the  system  is  loyalty. 
For  the  sake  of  his  lord,  the  knight  or  soldier 
must  count  his  life,  his  parents,  wife,  children,  or 
property  as  naught,  in  comparison  to  the  claims  of 
his  master  upon  him.  Thus  the  great  laws  of  con- 
tract and  of  mutual  dependence  and  service  are 
taught,  and  probably  as  these  can  be  taught  in  no 
other  system  of  society.  In  China,  filial  piety  is 
the  basis  of  civilization  and  the  note  of  ethics  and 
history.  In  Japan  it  is  loyalty. 

When  Wu  Wang,  who  founded  the  Chow 
dynasty  (1122-255  b.  c.),  became  emperor,  he 
parceled  out  his  domain,  rewarding  those  who 
had  helped  him  during  his  campaigns.  Besides 
giving  them  grants  of  land  he  added  titles  of  honor, 
such  as  duke,  marquis,  earl,  count,  etc.  These  high 
officers  were  the  emperor’s  vassals  and  were  bound 
to  serve  him  as  courtiers  or  soldiers.  In  this  way 
China  was  divided  up  like  a chessboard,  though 
the  areas  were  of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  for  the 
real  value  of  territory  is  not  in  its  measurement, 
but  in  its  fertility,  and  is  reckoned  according  to 
the  average  results  of  the  harvest. 

Now  there  are  two  ways  of  picturing  to  the 
mind  this  remarkable  era  and  the  people  who  lived 


72 


CHINA’S  STORY 


under  it.  One  is  to  write  the  outward  story  of 
events,  give  a catalogue  of  the  petty  states,  — 
scores  in  number,  each  with  a monosyllabic  name, 
which  few  of  us  can  remember,  — and  then  men- 
tion the  rulers  in  succession,  or  tell  of  the  feudal 
wars  ; in  other  words,  to  show  the  bones  of  history. 

As  to  war,  one  might  almost  say  that  campaigns 
seemed  continuous  and  interminable.  Many  rulers, 
ambitious  of  power  and  coveting  more  land,  ex- 
tended their  boundaries  unjustly.  Armies  went 
out  regularly  when  the  millet  flowers  bloomed  in 
the  spring,  and  returned  when  the  snow  lay  on  the 
mire.  As  each  state  was  governed  by  its  own 
ruler,  there  was  constant  rivalry  between  these 
vassal  kingdoms.  In  time,  some  of  them  became 
so  powerful  that  their  rulers  took  the  title  of 
kings.  One  of  them,  the  state  of  Tsin,  or  Chin, 
became  paramount,  B.  c.  255,  overthrew  the  im- 
perial dynasty,  and  usurped  the  throne.  It  is 
believed  that  from  this  state  the  name  China 
became  known  throughout  Asia.  Dr.  Legge  de- 
clares that  “ the  state  of  Tsin  fought  its  way  to 
empire  through  seas  of  blood.  Probably  there  is 
no  country  in  the  world  which  has  drunk  in  so 
much  blood  from  its  battles,  sieges,  and  massacres 
as  this.” 

There  is  another  way  of  picturing  China’s  feudal 
age.  It  is  to  tell  how  people  felt,  played,  hunted, 
met  together  socially,  and  enjoyed  themselves  ; or, 
how  the  nobles  and  their  men  of  war  with  their 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


73 

splendid  chariots,  caparisoned  horses,  silken  ban- 
ners, shining  armor,  fine  clothes,  jewels,  and  equip- 
ment made  grand  display  at  the  durbars,  or  state 
levees,  when  the  prince  gave  audience  to  his  vas- 
sals. It  is  pleasant,  also,  to  learn  how  the  women 
and  young  folks  lived,  dressed,  and  amused  them- 
selves, how  children  were  reared  and  educated, 
what  was  the  round  of  daily  life,  what  grew  in 
the  fields,  and  what  kind  of  food  was  eaten.  We 
would  know  something  about  agriculture  and  in- 
dustry, what  flowers  were  cultivated,  and  what 
animals  were  hunted  or  reared  for  protection  and 
defense,  or  employed  for  burdens  or  draught.  One 
would  like  to  be  told  of  the  ornaments  and  jewels 
worn,  of  the  perfumes  that  were  considered  plea- 
sant, of  the  musical  instruments  played,  and,  in 
general,  about  what  human  beings  cared  most  to  do. 
Has  any  one  reported  these  things  ? In  the  days 
before  newspapers,  who  wrote  on  such  subjects  ? 

Happily  for  us  we  have  true  pictures  made  by 
men  and  women  who  lived  during  the  feudal  era. 
These  word-paintings  are  found  in  the  form  of 
poetry,  written  from  B.  c.  1765  to  B.  c.  585,  in  the 
She  King,  or  Book  of  Odes,  which  Confucius 
edited,  and  Dr.  James  B.  Legge  has  translated. 
According  to  the  tradition,  “ the  old  poems 
amounted  to  more  than  three  thousand.  Confu- 
cius removed  those  which  were  only  repetitions  of 
others,  and  selected  those  which  would  be  service- 
able for  the  inculcation  of  propriety  and  righteous- 


74 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ness.”  Confucius  published  in  all  three  hundred 
and  five  pieces,  'which  he  sung  over  to  his  lute  to 
bring  them  into  accordance  with  the  musical  style 
then  prevalent. 

Many  of  these  verse-pictures  are  of  lovers  and 
weddings,  and  of  the  joyous  festivals  celebrated 
when  the  maid  became  bride  and  wife.  Lovers 
seem  to  have  been  like  those  of  to-day, — as  much 
in  a hurry  as  now,  — eager  to  get  their  wives,  then, 
after  marriage,  taking  things  as  a matter  of  course. 
See  the  swift-driving  lover  in  this  poem : — 

“ With  axle  creaking  all  on  fire  I went, 

To  fetch  my  young  and  lovely  bride. 

No  thirst  or  hunger  pangs  my  bosom  rent,  — 

I only  longed  to  have  her  by  my  side. 

I feast  with  her,  whose  virtue  fame  had  told, 

Nor  need  we  friends  our  rapture  to  behold.” 

The  poem  in  five  stanzas  then  describes  the  birds 
and  living  creatures  met  by  the  rider  on  his  way 
to  his  “ virtuous  bride  of  noble  mind  and  person- 
ality,” and  how  he  ascended  the  hills  and  ridges. 
Whether  on  level  roads  or  slopes,  he  drew  from 
the  things  seen,  were  they  oak  trees  or  trailing- 
tailed  pheasants,  images  of  the  beauty  and  grace 
of  the  maid  who  was  to  make  his  home. 

In  another  case,  when,  “ like  the  dove  in  the 
magpie’s  nest,”  the  bride  goes  to  her  future  home, 
a hundred  chariots  are  ready  to  meet  her  and  take 
her  there.  Again  a wife,  with  industry  and  rever- 
ence, assists  her  husband  in  sacrificing  at  the 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


75 


temple.  In  other  verses,  the  wife  of  a great  officer 
bewails  his  absence  on  duty  and  longs  for  the  joy 
of  his  return.  Many  are  the  picture-songs  cele- 
brating the  diligence  and  virtue  of  good  wives,  or 
the  charms  of  royal  princesses.  One  poem  shows 
the  anxiety  of  a young  lady  to  get  married.  She 
notices  that  the  plums  when  ripe  fall  from  the 
bough,  — at  first  only  seven  tenths,  then  three 
tenths  are  left,  and  finally  she  gives  notice  that 
they  who  would  “ wish  her  love  to  gain  ” will  not 
now  apply  in  vain.  When  no  more  plums  are  on 
the  bough,  and  all  are  in  the  basket,  any  ardent 
seeker  “need  only  speak  the  word.’’ 

The  position  of  woman  was  not  very  high  in 
these  early  ages.  It  never  has  been  in  China,  where 
subordination  is  the  great  principle.  The  introduc- 
tion of  Confucianism  into  Korea  and  Japan  re- 
sulted in  a distinct  lowering  of  the  status  of  women. 
Even  the  loved  bride  might  be  called  a dove,  but 
it  would  be  with  the  idea  of  her  stupidity,  not 
loveliness.  A score  of  odes  celebrate  the  lack  of 
jealousy  in  the  true  wife  toward  the  other  women 
in  the  harem,  one  of  them  being  devoted  to  the  cure 
of  jealousy  and  “ the  restoration  of  good  feeling  in 
the  harem.”  The  Chinese  can  never  be  proud  of 
their  treatment  of  one  half  of  the  race,  despite  all 
their  boasted  ethics.  Nevertheless,  China  has  had 
many  great  women  who  are  justly  famous. 

One  of  the  difficult  tasks  in  translating  poetry 
or  prose  from  one  language  into  another  is  that 


76 


CHINA’S  STORY 


of  retaining  the  pleasing  associations  of  the  origi= 
nal.  “ One  man’s  meat  is  another  man’s  poi- 
son,” and  “concerning  tastes  there  should  be  no 
dispute.”  Different  peoples  have  very  varying 
ideas  as  to  a goose,  a dove,  or  the  tree  from  which 
jujube  paste  is  made.  Not  only  plants,  but  animals, 
have  a different  language  to  various  nations.  The 
same  flower  in  one  country  suggests  a funeral  and 
in  another  a wedding.  To  one  mind  there  rises  at 
a certain  word  the  idea  of  grace  and  beauty,  to 
another  that  of  stupidity  and  folly.  In  one  country 
the  cherry  blossom  is  the  queen  of  flowers,  in  an- 
other the  rose.  In  our  land  the  rose-bud  is  the 
emblem  of  blooming  young  womanhood,  but  in  Ja- 
pan the  Valerian  blossom.  Many  common  flowers 
in  the  gardens  of  China,  as  familiar  as  are  golden- 
rod  or  pond-lilies  to  us,  are  known  in  America  only 
by  their  long  and  uncouth  Latin  names.  It  is  very 
evident  that  we  cannot  do  justice  to  these  ancient 
poems  of  China  by  mere  translation.  The  task 
awaits  some  poet  who  is  also  a scholar  in  Chinese. 

Very  remarkable  is  the  fact  that  many  of  these 
odes,  written  thousands  of  years  ago,  contain  the 
same  ideas  expressed  in  almost  the  same  metre 
with  which  our  poets  have  made  us  familiar.  For 
example,  there  is  one  nearly  identical  with  our 
“ Woodman,  Spare  that  Tree  ” : — 

“ Oh  fell  not  that  sweet  pear-tree  ! 

See  how  its  branches  spread 

Spoil  not  its  shade,”  etc. 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


77 


And  the  reason  is  that  the  people  love  the  tree 
because  their  good  ruler,  the  duke,  rested  under 
it. 

All  know  Poe’s  wonderful  rhymes  on  the  raven. 
About  B.  c.  200,  an  exiled  Chinese  poet  pictures 
himself  in  grief  and  loneliness  amid  his  volumes 
of  lore,  in  a poem  half  as  long  as  Poe’s,  which 
Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  has  translated  thus : — 

“On  his  bed  of  straw  reclining, 

Half  despairing,  half  repining, 

When  athwart  the  window-sill 
In  flew  a bird  of  omen  ill. 

And  seemed  inclined  to  stay.” 

Then  follow  seven  other  stanzas,  which  contain 
much  the  same  idea  as  that  over  which  Poe 
brooded  : — 

“ Gentle  bird,  in  mercy  deign 
The  will  of  fate  to  me  explain. 

Where  is  my  future  way  ? 

It  raised  its  head  as  if ’t  were  seeking 
To  answer  me  by  simply  speaking  ; 

Then  folded  up  its  sable  wing. 

Nor  did  it  utter  anything, 

But  breathed  a ‘ Well-a-day  ’ ! ” 

Confucius  may,  or  may  not,  be  held  responsible 
for  admitting  into  his  collection,  without  a word 
of  explanation,  an  ode  which  has  done  much  to 
perpetuate  among  his  people  a barbarous  con- 
tempt for  women.  However  we  translate  it,  the 
idea  is  there.  It  occurs  in  a poem  on  the  comple- 
tion of  a royal  palace  with  good  wishes  for  the 


78 


CHINA’S  STORY 


builder  and  his  posterity.  Dr.  Martin  thus  gives 
a rhyming  translation  : — 

“ When  a son  is  born  — in  a lordly  bed 
Wrap  him  in  raiment  of  purple  and  red; 

Jewels  and  gold  for  playthings  bring 
For  the  noble  boy  who  shall  serve  the  king. 

“ When  a girl  is  born  — in  coarse  cloth  wound 
With  a tile  for  a toy,  let  her  lie  on  the  ground. 

In  her  bread  and  her  beer  be  her  praise  or  her  blame, 
And  let  her  not  sully  her  parents’  good  name.” 

Wonderfully  vivid,  in  the  poems,  are  the  pic- 
tures of  the  costumes,  the  handsome  figures,  and 
the  easy  dignity  of  popular  officers  at  the  court. 
Fulsome  praises  of  certain  dukes,  for  their  culture 
and  accomplishments,  are  set  in  tuneful  lines. 
The  weaknesses  of  conceited  young  men  of  rank 
are  held  up  to  ridicule.  There  are  sentimental 
travelers  who  give  themselves  up  to  melancholy  on 
contemplating  the  desolation  of  former  capitals. 
Famous  buildings,  once  filled  with  gay  lords  and 
ladies,  now  lying  as  ruins  among  the  millet  fields 
or  forgotten  among  men,  compel  reflection.  The 
moon  inspired  to  much  verse-making  then  as  now. 
We  hear  also  the  murmurs  of  the  soldiers  who 
have  been  long  absent  on  service,  and  are  home- 
sick. In  many  a case,  an  officer  of  character  is 
weary  of  life  and  complains  that  men  of  principle 
suffer  while  worthless  men  escape  punishment. 

“ Caught  as  the  pheasant  in  the  net, 

That  vainly  for  the  hare  is  set. 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


79 


So  those  who  duty  promptly  do 
Find  cause  their  loyal  zeal  to  rue,”  etc. 

Many  narratives  show  how  virtuous  magistrates 
repress  crime  and  licentiousness.  The  daring 
charioteer  is  praised  for  his  skill  and  speed  in 
the  races,  while  the  archers  are  honored  in  verse 
for  their  rapidity,  skill,  and  ability  to  hit  the  tar- 
get. 

The  praises  of  many  birds,  insects,  and  animals, 
that  furnish  human  beings  with  good  examples, 
are  sung  by  these  men  of  the  lute.  The  noxious 
vermin  and  rodents  are  awful  examples  to  the 
lazy  and  vicious.  One  man  is  likened  to  a rat, 
because  he  is  uncultured  and  rude,  or  in  Chinese 
phrase  “ lacks  propriety.”  In  another  case,  a 
rabbit  catcher  is  praised  as  fit  to  be  a prince’s 
mate.  The  country  boy  diligent  in  his  business 
stands  before  kings. 

A very  large  number  of  the  poems  are  about,  or 
by,  or  dedicated  to  women,  but  many  more  are  by, 
about,  or  in  praise  of  or  sympathy  with  soldiers, 
so  that  one  would  think  the  feudal  age  was  given 
up  wholly  to  love  and  war.  The  peasantry  are 
praised  and  misgovernment  is  condemned,  in  some 
cases  even  when  the  people,  while  complaining  of 
their  harsh  treatment,  profess  still  more  strongly 
their  loyalty.  Evidently  there  was  plenty  of  gos- 
sip and  slander,  for  these  furnish  the  theme  of 
many  of  the  odes. 

Step  by  step  we  can  trace  the  rise  of  some  of 


80 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  feudal  lords,  and  their  growing  opulence  and 
pride,  which  led  to  luxury  in  the  castle,  but  which 
meant  more  oppression  and  heavier  taxes  for  the 
people.  Many  of  the  poets  lament  over  the  frivo- 
lous character  of  their  princes,  who  are  more  fond 
of  displaying  their  robes  than  of  attending  to  the 
duties  of  government.  Certain  lines  also  read  as 
if  the  fashion  reporter  of  a modern  society  journal 
had  been  present,  for  the  description  of  dresses  is 
quite  detailed.  There  is  no  lack  of  sarcasm,  irony, 
jibe,  and  pun.  One  poet  lampoons  the  gate  war- 
dens, who  shine  so  grandly  in  their  red  knee 
covers,  but  who  really  disgrace  the  court,  looking 
rather  like  pelicans  that  stand  on  the  dam : — 

“ And  there  their  pouches  cram, 

Unwet  the  while  their  wings, 

But  take  no  part  in  toil  or  care. 

Nor  the  State’s  welfare  seek.” 

An  accurate  picture  of  lazy  office-holders,  who  feed 
at  the  public  expense  ! 

Thus  in  the  early  morning  of  Chinese  history, 
we  find  numerous  poets  and  plenty  of  poetry. 
Through  all  the  centuries  and  to  this  day  the  Chi- 
nese gentleman  pens  verses.  The  national  store- 
house of  poetry  is  very  rich.  Verse-writing  literary 
parties  and  contests  are  very  common.  The  Wor- 
thies of  the  Bamboo  Grove,  a club  of  seven  con- 
vivial men  of  letters,  about  A.  D.  275,  are  among 
those  most  renowned.  Many  improvised  poems 
are  popularly  known  and  quoted,  the  following 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


81 


stanza  being  among  the  most  famous.  A tyrant 
and  usurper,  jealous  of  his  brother,  who  had  tal- 
ents as  a poet,  hoping  to  bring  him  to  confusion, 
commanded  him  publicly  to  compose  an  ode  while 
taking  seven  paces.  Equal  to  the  occasion,  the 
poet  took  seven  steps  while  reciting  these  satiric 
lines : — 

“ A kettle  had  beans  inside, 

And  stalks  of  beaus  made  a fire  ; 

When  the  beans  to  their  brother-stalks  cried, 

‘ We  spring  from  one  root,  — why  such  ire  ? * ” 


CHAPTER  VIII 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL 

Out  of  the  crowd  of  petty  feudal  states,  that  of 
Chin  rose  to  be  paramount.  Its  dukes  then  began 
to  take  on  the  airs  of  emperors.  This  was  shown 
in  the  thoroughly  Chinese  fashion  of  their  offering 
the  imperial  sacrifices  to  Heaven.  Their  dynasty 
lasted  from  255  B.  c.  to  205  B.  c.  After  various 
struggles  and  much  bloodshed,  one  of  their  princes, 
221  B.  c.,  borrowing  from  Whang  Ti,  who  ruled, 
according  to  tradition,  2769  b.  c.,  assumed  the 
title  of  She  Whang -ti,  or  First  Universal  Em- 
peror. From  the  “ Land  of  Chin  ” has  arisen  the 
name  China. 

For  twenty  centuries,  the  phrase  Whang-ti, 
which  stands  for  the  Universal  Sovereignty  claimed 
by  China,  has  represented  the  political  theory  un- 
derlying the  Chinese  world  of  ideas  in  all  eastern 
Asia.  It  is  the  foundation  principle  of  action  by 
the  emperor  and  government.  The  doctrine  is  that 
China,  as  the  most  highly  civilized  nation  on  earth, 
and  at  the  centre  of  the  world,  is  supreme.  All 
other  nations  and  rulers  must  accept  the  calendar 
and  etiquette  of  the  Central  Empire  and  be  obe- 
dient vassals,  or  else  be  considered  as  “ outside 
barbarians.’’ 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  83 


Millions  of  men  in  China  still  hold  this  notion, 
which  lay  at  the  root  of  the  Chino-Japanese  War 
of  1894.  Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  Tibet,  An- 
num, Korea,  J apan,  and  the  whole  fringe  of  nations 
surrounding  China  were  considered  as  more  or 
less  dependent.  When  European  rulers  sent  their 
envoys  and  brought  presents,  it  was  given  out  pub- 
licly, and  often  flauntingly  advertised,  that  these 
men  coming  from  distant  nations  were  tribute- 
bearers  to  the  great  Chinese  emperor,  and  the  peo- 
ple supposed  that  they  were.  It  is  true  that  the 
pupil  nations  often  reduced  this  idea  of  “ tribute  ” 
to  mere  trade,  and  profited  by  it.  The  Koreans, 
for  example,  made  more  money  out  of  it  than  did 
the  Chinese. 

Japan’s  hostile  encounter  with  this  dogma  in 
1894  was  over  the  question  of  Korea.  She  had 
either  to  destroy  it  or  be  destroyed.  eJust  as  the 
American  republic  came  into  collision  with  the 
relics  of  European  feudalism,  the  divine  right  of 
kings,  the  pretensions  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  other  worn-out  political  dogmas,  so  for- 
eign diplomatists  have  frequently  encountered  no- 
tions of  sovereignty  in  China  which  have  long 
been  discarded  elsewhere. 

Our  American  ministers  in  Peking  have  always 
refused  to  make  the  kow-tow,  or  nine  prostrations, 
before  the  Chinese  throne.  Japan  led  the  nations 
of  Asia  in  obtaining  audience  of  the  Son  of  Heaven 
in  Peking  with  dignity  and  in  refusing  to  treat 


84 


CHINA’S  STORY 


on  any  principles  but  those  of  international  law. 
In  fact,  the  Japanese  claimed  to  have  a Son  of 
Heaven  of  their  own.  Hence  the  difficulty  of  mu- 
tual agreement  between  the  two  nations.  It  was  a 
dogmatic  collision,'  in  which  one  party  suffered 
severely. 

The  emperor  who  unified  China  was  only  thir- 
teen years  old  when  he  ascended  the  throne,  B.  C. 
246.  He  showed  unexpected  ability.  He  built  a 
new  capital  and  then  gave  his  life’s  energies  to 
reconstructing  the  empire.  He  divided  the  country 
into  thirty-six  provinces,  putting  over  each  one 
three  great  officers  who  were  directly  responsible 
to  him. 

The  first  founders  of  imperialism,  of  the  Chin 
dynasty,  did  not  perhaps  mean  to  abolish  the  feudal 
states.  Yet  in  order  to  secure  national  unity  it  was 
necessary  to  do  away  with  feudalism,  which  was  a 
perpetual  source  of  weakness,  besides  being  a men- 
ace to  imperial  power.  Since  the  northern  Tartars 
were  ever  pressing  upon  civilized  China,  national 
strength  was  of  the  first  importance. 

In  carrying  out  the  policy  of  uniting  all  China, 
the  emperor  was  opposed  on  every  hand  by  the 
literary  men,  who  lauded  the  traditions  of  the 
past,  and  were  hostile  to  the  new  plans  of  progress. 
Under  feudalism,  the  local  and  personal  idea  of 
loyalty  had  been  so  cultivated  that  few  men  cared 
for  anything  outside  of  their  neighborhood.  There 
was  no  community  of  ideas,  or  feeling  for  any- 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  85 


thing  larger  than  one’s  petty  state.  No  such  thing 
as  patriotism  in  a broad  sense  existed.  The  unifier 
of  China  therefore  resolved  to  break  with  the  past 
and  to  fuse  many  local  loyalties  into  one  that  was 
national.  He  would  help  the  people  to  see  and  ap- 
preciate larger  ideas,  and  teach  them  to  live  for 
the  commonwealth  and  not  for  a section.  So  he 
swept  away  feudalism.  He  also  burned  the  classics 
and  put  to  death  many  of  the  literati.  For  this  he 
has  been  held  up  to  scorn  by  native  historians. 

In  order  to  rear  a monument  of  united  China 
and  at  the  same  time  a defense  against  the  Tar- 
tars, he  began  the  building  of  the  Great  Wall, 
which  still  stands,  after  many  enlargements  and 
frequent  rebuildings.  This  massive  line  of  brick 
and  masonry,  over  eighteen  hundred  miles  long,  is 
the  most  stupendous  work  of  human  industry  in 
the  history  of  the  race.  Its  top,  wide  enough  for 
six  horsemen  to  ride  abreast,  is  strengthened  with 
parapets,  turrets,  and  towers.  It  strikes  wonder 
into  the  beholder,  and  appeals  to  the  imagination  as 
it  disappears  from  view  in  the  distance.  Surmount- 
ing hills,  valleys,  rivers,  and  plains,  it  stretches 
over  a line  which  if  drawn  in  America  would  reach 
from  Philadelphia  to  Kansas  City. 

The  emperor’s  life  was  spent  in  restless  activity. 
He  entered  upon  vaster  enterprises  as  he  grew 
older.  He  opened  new  roads  through  the  forest, 
protected  the  frontiers  with  fortifications,  diked 
the  rivers,  built  bridges,  and  in  various  ways 


86 


CHINA’S  STORY 


made  life  more  comfortable  and  pleasant  to  the 
people.  Yet  notwithstanding  all  his  energies,  he 
was  the  slave  of  superstition.  Always  in  dread  of 
death,  he  tried  to  secure  from  his  magicians  an 
elixir  that  would  secure  for  him  a long  life. 

In  later  times,  other  emperors,  imitating  his 
example,  made  the  same  search  for  some  liquid  to 
lengthen  life.  A famous  Japanese  novel  is  based 
upon  the  idea  that  from  southern  China  a colony 
sailed  away  to  the  Isles  of  the  Rising  Sun  to  ob- 
tain what  Ponce  de  Leon  sought  in  Florida.  In- 
stead of  coming  back,  the  colonists  remained  in 
the  country.  Then,  the  young  men  and  maidens 
marrying,  began  the  peopling  of  Japan. 

From  earliest  ages,  the  curse  of  China  has  been 
the  fear  of  evil  spirits.  To  this  day  millions  of 
dollars  are  spent  annually  in  paying  sorcerers 
and  buying  charms  and  inventions  of  various 
kinds  to  drive  away  the  malevolent  beings  that 
overpopulate  the  sky,  air,  and  earth.  Many  crafty 
people  make  a living  by  preying  on  these  fears. 
As  of  old,  witchcraft  is  the  enemy  of  science  and 
religion. 

The  great  emperor  was  told  that  he  was  pur- 
sued by  evil  spirits  and  must  sleep  in  a different 
room  of  his  palace  every  night,  so  as  to  puzzle 
them.  A like  idea  accounts  for  the  crookedness, 
irregular  widths,  and  oddities  of  Chinese  streets, 
locations  of  gateways  and  houses,  and  many  strange 
customs  concerning  infants,  weddings,  and  funer- 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  87 


als.  He  employed  seven  hundred  thousand  men, 
mostly  criminals,  or  prisoners  of  war,  wasting 
millions  of  the  people’s  money,  to  build  a palace 
as  full  of  rooms  as  a honeycomb  is  of  cells,  in 
order  to  mystify  the  demons.  At  the  western  end 
was  the  Loadstone  Gateway,  or  Barbarian-Repel- 
ling Gate.  Through  it,  the  people  outside,  that 
is,  the  barbarians,  entered  from  the  west.  Every 
one  was  expected  to  disarm,  but  if  any  carried 
concealed  weapons  they  were  drawn  by  force  of 
attraction  to  the  side  of  the  gate  and  held  there  ! 
Near  by  was  the  colossal  palace  built  within  the 
imperial  park  or  hunting  - grounds.  The  central 
hall  was  of  such  dimensions  that  ten  thousand 
persons  could  be  assembled  within  it,  and  banners 
sixty  feet  high  could  be  unfurled.  In  spite,  how- 
ever, of  this  prolonged  game  of  hide  - and  - seek, 
death  came  to  the  emperor  at  last. 

Not  long  after  this  his  newly  founded  dynasty 
(Yin)  went  to  ruin.  The  empire  had  been  greatly 
extended  and  many  of  the  northern  tribes  had 
been  brought  under  control,  but  so  much  con- 
quered territory  made  the  new  China  like  a farm 
that  was  too  large  to  be  tilled  properly.  The  ele- 
ments within  were  too  discordant,  and  the  result 
was  not  a good  illustration  of  e plurihus  unum. 
After  a few  years,  the  house  of  Yin  fell  to  pieces. 

China’s  feudal  age  had  been  so  rich  in  dramatic 
and  spectacular  elements  that  the  imagination  of 
later  ages  loved  to  play  upon  it,  and  thus  to  en- 


88 


CHINA’S  STORY 


rich  and  embellish  its  pictures  of  life,  as  left  by 
the  poets.  Some  could  not  easily  adapt  themselves 
to  a change  in  the  order  of  things.  The  men  who 
remembered  the  old,  picturesque  life  were  opposed 
to  reform,  and  especially  to  the  abolition  of  the 
feudal  privileges.  This  is  the  real  reason  why 
they  were  handled  so  roughly,  oppressed,  perse- 
cuted, and  even  put  to  death,  and  their  books 
burnt.  This  explains  also  why  the  man  who  uni- 
fied the  empire  is  said  to  have  been  “ an  enemy  to 
literature,”  — a heinous  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Chinese,  — even  wantonly  destroying  the  old  texts 
and  writings.  But  as  in  European  history,  we 
must  be  careful  not  to  believe  too  much  of  what 
the  monkish  scribes  wrote  about  the  so-called 
enemies  of  religion.  We  need  not  take  at  their 
full  value  all  the  stories  which  the  ancient  writers 
have  told  concerning  the  past.  To  this  day  the 
literati  are  ultra-conservatives  who,  as  a rule, 
hate  and  oppose  all  changes,  even  when  improve- 
ments. 

Before  we  pass  from  feudalism  to  centralized 
government,  we  must  note  again,  that  if  history 
concerned  itself  only  with  wars  and  battles,  we 
should  know  little  of  the  greater  things  which 
make  up  human  life  and  secure  the  prosperity  of 
the  race.  The  wars  of  this  epoch  are  hardly  more 
than  shadows  in  the  memory  even  of  scholars, 
while  the  words  of  Confucius  still  breathe  and 
his  thoughts  burn.  Written  history  begins  with 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  89 


Confucius,  who,  in  B.  c.  481,  wrote  the  only  ori- 
ginal work  ascribed  to  his  pen.  This  is  a chron- 
icle of  his  native  state,  from  B.  c.  722,  entitled 
“ Spring  and  Autumn.” 

It  was  during  the  feudal  era  that  the  three 
greatest  intellectual  men  of  China  lived.  They 
were  philosophers,  whose  writings  have  influenced 
seventy  generations  of  China  and  the  nations 
around  her.  One  of  them  has  been  the  teacher  of 
the  largest  number  of  men  and  for  the  longest 
time  of  any  known  in  the  history  of  the  race. 
These  three  men  we  call  Lao  - tse,  or  Laotius, 
Confucius,  and  Mencius.  Confucius  was  an  active 
man  of  affairs,  a true  teacher,  and  not  at  all  the 
prig  that  late  ages  have  represented  him  to  be. 

The  ideas  of  these  great  men  concerning  reli- 
gion, law,  morals,  and  philosophy,  we  can  learn 
easily,  if  we  will,  for  many  scholars  have  trans- 
lated their  texts  and  made  commentaries ; but  if 
we  wish  to  know  what  notions,  fancies,  and  super- 
stitions they  held,  we  must  question  Chinese  art 
and  literature,  which  give  us  copious  answers. 
We  find  that  besides  the  living  creatures  that 
roam  the  earth,  fly  in  the  air,  or  swim  in  the 
waters,  most  Chinese  believe  in  some  that  never 
were  on  sea  or  land  or  in  the  atmosphere.  They 
see  them  in  dreams,  paint  them  in  pictures,  or 
tell  about  them  in  stories. 

Some  of  these,  described  by  the  ancient  writers 
before  Confucius,  have  been  so  long  in  the  na- 


90 


CHINA’S  STORY 


tional  literature  that  the  common  people  take  it 
for  granted  that  they  exist  as  real  beings.  Other 
animals  are  associated  with  what  is  patriotic,  or 
sacred,  like  the  creatures  found  in  European 
heraldry,  or  copied  from  actual  life,  on  the  na- 
tional banners.  The  British  lion  and  unicorn,  the 
French  cock,  the  American  eagle,  the  double- 
headed birds  of  prey  of  Russia  and  Germany  are 
in  the  same  patriotic  menagerie. 

The  four  chief  supernatural  creatures  are  the 
unicorn,  phoenix,  tortoise,  and  dragon.  The  first 
is  believed  to  be  the  noblest  form  of  the  animal 
creation  and  is  the  emblem  of  perfect  good,  be- 
cause it  is  the  incarnation  of  the  five  elements  out 
of  which  all  things  are  made:  that  is,  water,  fire, 
wood,  metal,  and  earth.  With  the  body  of  a deer 
and  the  tail  of  an  ox,  it  lives  to  be  a thousand 
years  old.  The  male  is  called  Id  and  the  female 
lin^  so  the  word  Idlin  is  generally  used  for  the 
species.  The  appearance  of  one  of  these  beasts 
upon  the  earth  is  an  omen  of  good  fortune  and 
prosperity.  We  find  this  soft -horned  creature 
often  pictured  on  porcelain  plates  and  dishes. 

The  phoenix  being  an  omen  of  good  govern- 
ment, virtuous  rulers  use  it  as  an  emblem  of  their 
office.  With  the  head  of  a pheasant,  the  beak  of 
a swallow,  and  the  neck  of  a tortoise,  it  has  much 
of  the  look  of  majesty  which  is  associated  with  a 
dragon.  Usually  pictured  as  having  the  colors 
and  features  of  both  the  peacock  and  the  phea- 


The  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 

PORCELAIN  PLATE 

The  carp  becoming  a dragon 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  91 


sant,  it  occupies  a large  place  in  Chinese  art,  on 
coins,  tablets,  decorated  faience,  etc.  In  the  clas- 
sic books  we  are  told  that  it  sat  in  the  court  of 
the  traditional  “ universal  sovereign,”  Whang  Ti, 
who  ruled  2697  B.  c.,  whose  wife  taught  the 
people  the  art  of  rearing  silkworms.  Also  when 
the  great  Shun  presided  at  the  musical  ceremonies, 
the  phoenix  came  with  stately  steppings  to  add 
splendor  to  the  occasion.  Each  of  the  five  colors 
which  embellished  the  plumage  of  the  phoenix  is 
typical  of  one  of  the  virtues,  — benevolence,  up- 
rightness, propriety,  knowledge,  and  good  faith. 
A name  is  given  to  each  of  the  many  intonations 
ascribed  to  its  voice. 

The  Kwei  or  tortoise  is  also  a supernatural 
creature.  By  stitching  together  a few  scraps  of 
reference  • from  the  ancient  books,  the  story  has 
been  made  that  when  Yu  was  draining  off  the 
flood,  a divine  tortoise  rose  out  of  the  river,  pre- 
senting to  his  gaze  a scroll  of  writing  upon  his 
back,  composed  of  the  numbers  from  one  to  nine. 
The  sage  interpreted  this,  and  made  it  the  base  of 
his  ninefold  exposition  of  philosophy.  Thus  the 
first  “dragon-horse”  carried  upon  his  back  the 
elements  of  the  future  literature  of  the  Chinese. 
It  is  remarkable  also  that  in  the  Japanese  story  of 
creation,  when  Uzum4  danced  before  the  cave  to 
entice  out  the  sun  goddess,  she  sang  a song  which 
some  interpret  as  the  numerals,  one,  two,  three,  up 
to  myriads. 


92 


CHINA’S  STORY 


There  are  whole  books  of  marvelous  tales 
about  the  tortoise,  which  is  supposed  to  exercise 
a happy  influence  on  the  region  in  which  it  lives. 
Its  shell  has  always  been  the  chief  element  in 
divination.  Another  creature,  which  partakes  of 
the  form  and  qualities  of  both  the  tortoise  and 
the  dragon,  has  the  power  of  transforming  itself 
and  taking  many  shapes.  Another  tortoise-shaped 
“god  of  the  rivers”  has  enormous  strength.  For 
that  reason  it  is  often  sculptured  in  stone  as  the 
support  of  huge  monumental  tablets  planted  im- 
movable upon  its  steadfast  back.  In  Korea  and 
Japan  also,  as  in  China,  one  sees  this  burden- 
bearer  carrying  tons  of  marble  or  granite  upon 
its  shell. 

These  classic  legends  are  told,  and  their  pic- 
torial representations  are  common,  in  all  the 
countries  influenced  by  Chinese  civilization,  just 
as  nearly  all  our  fairy  tales  and  imaginary  beings, 
such  as  the  chimera,  griffin,  sea-serpent,  Santa 
Claus,  Rip  Van  Winkle,  the  Golden  Goose,  and 
other  old  friends  of  the  nursery,  have  come  to  us 
from  the  ancient  nations  from  which  we  have  de- 
rived our  culture. 

The  philosophy  of  fortune-telling  is  based  on 
the  diagrams  or  symbols  supposed  to  have  been 
found  on  the  back  of  the  dragon-horse,  or  tortoise, 
and  whole  libraries  of  occult  lore  have  been  de- 
veloped from  it.  The  eight  trigrams,  or  sets  of 
whole  and  broken  lines,  remind  one  of  the  Morse 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  93 


telegraph  alphabet  of  dashes  and  dots.  They  re- 
present the  first  developments  from  unity,  or  the 
primal  substance  of  the  Yin  and  Yang,  or  the 
positive  and  negative  elements.  These  eight  figures 
are  capable  of  sixty  - four  combinations.  When 
handled  by  the  philosophers  and  diviners,  they 
are  supposed  to  give  a clue  to  the  secrets  of  na- 
ture and  existence.  The  whole  lines  correspond 
to  Heaven,  the  celestial  expanse,  or  the  perfect 
male  principle  ; while  the  broken  lines  correspond 
to  the  earth,  terrestrial  matter,  or  the  pure  femi- 
nine principle.  Others  represent  the  forms  of 
water,  mist,  fog,  cloud,  etc.,  of  heat  and  light,  of 
thunder  and  wind,  simple  water,  mountains,  etc. 
These  all  interwork  in  ceaseless  activity,  and 
their  evolution  is  indicated  by  combinations  of 
the  diagrams.  In  the  course  of  their  movement, 
they  mutually  extinguish  and  give  birth  to  one 
another,  thus  producing  the  phenomena  of  exist- 
ence. Some  Chinese  books  are  filled  with  these 
diagrams  in  various  arrangements.  Before  the 
fortune-tellers’  shops  or  booths  in  the  cities  one 
sees  them,  as  indicative  of  the  money-earner’s 
occupation.  Most  of  the  oddities  seen  on  Chinese 
streets,  in  popular  art,  in  the  toy  shops,  etc.,  are 
as  directly  connected  with  Chinese  philosophy  as 
are  ours  with  the  traditions  and  notions  of  our 
ancestors. 

In  the  case  of  all  these  mythical  animals,  the 
general  idea  is  to  combine  both  strength  and 


94 


CHINA'S  STORY 


beauty,  or  to  embody  in  one  creature  the  power, 
charms,  and  graces  of  the  many  different  animals 
inhabiting  earth,  air,  and  water.  In  mythical 
zoology,  whether  in  Europe  or  in  China,  the  hu- 
man mind  is  not  content  with  plain  reality,  but 
desires  gorgeous  and  astonishing  combinations. 
The  Chinese  imaginary  animals  are  hardly  more 
monstrous  or  amusing  than  those  in  the  heraldry 
of  Europe.  This  beast-worship  underlies  all  the 
religions  of  Asia. 

The  idea  of  the  five  colors  — black,  red,  azure, 
white,  and  yellow  — runs  all  through  Chinese 
thoughts  about  dress,  furniture,  heraldry,  and 
symbolism.  Each  of  the  five  metals,  five  planets, 
and  five  kinds  of  clouds  has  its  particular  color. 
In  the  skies  each  color  has  an  omen  or  meaning, 
betokening  a plague  of  creeping  things,  mourning, 
war,  destruction,  floods,  prosperity,  abundance, 
etc.  Each  of  these  sets  of  things,  or  influences, 
grouped  in  fives,  affects  every  other.  Since  they 
have  to  do  with  pleasure  or  pain,  disgust  or  de- 
light in  the  every-day  life  of  the  Chinese,  one  can 
easily  see  how  many  mistakes  foreigners  are  apt 
to  make  in  the  eyes  of  the  natives. 

The  Chinese  take  this  method  of  arranging 
their  ideas  according  to  number,  so  as  to  keep 
their  thoughts  in  order.  They  talk  also  about  the 
five  blessings,  which  are  long  life,  riches,  peace, 
love  of  virtue,  and  a noble  end  crowning  life. 
There  are  five  grades  of  mourning,  for  parents. 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  95 


grandparents  and  ancestors,  brothers  and  sisters, 
uncles  and  aunts,  and  distant  relatives  in  the  line 
of  descent  or  ascent.  The  five  punishments,  each 
with  from  two  to  five  degrees  of  severity  or  dura- 
tion, are  beating  with  the  bamboo ; bastinado, 
or  whipping  on  the  soles  of  the  feet;  banishment; 
transportation ; and  death,  either  by  strangling  or 
by  decapitation.  There  are  five  atmospheric  influ- 
ences, — rain,  fine  weather,  heat,  cold,  and  wind ; 
each  of  which  is  dominated  by  one  of  the  five  ele- 
ments, — wood,  metal,  fire,  water,  and  earth.  These 
invisible  influences  in  the  air  are  classified  as  per- 
taining to  heaven,  while  the  five  tastes  or  flavors, 
salt,  bitter,  sour,  acrid,  and  sweet,  appertain  to  the 
earth.  So  also  there  are  five  constituents  of  the 
human  frame,  the  muscles,  flesh,  bones,  skin,  and 
hair,  while  the  five  inward  parts  of  the  body  are 
the  heart,  liver,  stomach,  lungs,  and  kidneys. 

In  Chinese  cemeteries  we  see  that  many  tombs 
are  made  of  five  stones,  set  one  upon  the  other  in 
the  form  of  a base  (earth),  a cube  (air),  a sphere 
(water),  a saucer  (fire),  and  flame-shape  (ether), 
representing  the  five  elements  of  the  human  soul. 

When  people  get  married,  they  must  be  careful 
to  see  that  the  proper  elements  in  them  are  har- 
monized. For  example,  the  five  elements  are  wood, 
metal,  fire,  water,  and  earth.  Every  one  born  un- 
der the  signs  of  the  respective  elements  has  a dis- 
position or  character  corresponding  to  the  element 
under  which  he  is  born,  and  of  which  he  partakes, 


96 


CHINA’S  STORY 


or  by  which  he  is  influenced.  Thus,  it  would 
never  do  for  a woman  of  fire  disposition  to  marry 
a man  born  under  the  wood  element,  because 
then  there  would  be  continual  bickering  or  hot 
water,  and  marital  happiness  would  be  entirely 
burned  up  or  would  go  off  in  steam.  It  is  per- 
fectly proper  for  a man  of  wood  to  marry  a woman 
of  water  temperament,  because  wood  floats  on 
water,  and  it  is  expected  that  a husband  must  rule 
his  wife.  It  would  not  do  for  a man  of  earth  dis- 
position to  marry  a woman  of  water  temperament, 
lest  he  should  be  ultimately  washed  away,  or  lost 
in  her  superior  power.  Even  the  dynasty  is  sup- 
posed to  be  under  the  direct  potency  of  one  of  the 
five  elements,  which  is  believed  to  overcome  the 
element  prevailing  in  the  previous  line  of  rulers. 

Now  when  it  is  remembered  that  there  are  also 
five  planets  and  five  points  of  space,  and  the  five 
arrangements  of  time,  — the  year,  the  month,  the 
day,  the  signs  of  the  stars  and  zodiac,  and  the 
great  calculations  of  the  calendar,  which  the  as- 
tronomers make,  — one  can  see  what  terrors  there 
are  in  store  for  those  ignorant  of  Chinese  etiquette. 
The  fortune-tellers,  star-gazers,  geomancers,  and 
tricksters  of  every  sort,  including  the  whole  fac- 
ulty of  professors  of  tomfoolery  and  the  sor- 
cerers, have  a rich  field.  Millions  of  dollars  are 
annually  extracted  from  the  pockets  of  the  poor 
people  who  believe  in  the  guesses  of  palm-readers, 
shufflers  of  the  bamboo  sticks,  or  readers  of  the 


CHINA  UNIFIED:  THE  GREAT  WALL  97 


eight  diagrams.  These  crafty  folk,  who  get  the 
people’s  money,  pretend  that  what  they  tell  their 
dupes  is  based  upon  profound  calculations  and 
observation  of  things  unseen  by  the  average  mor- 
tal eye.  Fortune-tellers  abound  on  the  streets  of 
the  large  cities,  and  are  found  all  over  the  empire. 
Heavy  is  the  burden  which  poor  China,  from  the 
imperial  palace  to  the  beggar’s  mat,  groans  under 
and  has  to  pay  for.  No  people  will  be  more  bene- 
fited by  science,  or  be  given  greater  deliverance 
and  clearer  vision  through  pure  religion,  than  the 
Chinese. 


CHAPTER  IX 


THE  EMPIRE  AND  THE  NORTHERN  BARBARIANS 

Out  of  the  thirty-five  dynasties  known  in  Chi- 
nese history,  only  two  are  reckoned  as  of  purely 
native  origin,  the  Han  and  the  Ming.  As  in  Eng- 
land, the  founders  of  ruling  houses  were  mostly 
foreigners. 

The  Han  line  of  emperors  is  divided  by  his- 
torians into  two  branches  and  epochs,  the  Former 
or\Yestern  Han,  B.  c.  206  to  a.  d.  25,  and  the  Later 
or  Eastern  Han  dynasty,  a.  d.  25  to  214.  It  is  not 
necessary,  in  this  little  book,  to  name  the  em- 
perors, some  thirty  in  number,  or  to  say  much 
about  them,  but  only  to  speak  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  line  and  the  age  in  which  they  lived. 

Some  of  the  traditions  of  the  early  ages,  as  in 
the  following  example,  explain  the  situation  better 
than  descriptions  could  do.  Han  Sin,  a grandson 
of  the  prince  of  the  Han  domain,  whose  territory 
was  seized  by  the  first  Tsin  ruler,  was  left  so  poor 
that  he  had  to  get  his  breakfast  out  of  the  water 
which  flowed  around  the  castle  of  his  ancestors. 
While  the  hungry  boy  sat  in  front  of  the  moat, 
waiting  for  a bite,  a poor  woman,  who  was  steep- 
ing flax  near  by,  took  pity  on  him  and  gave  him 
food.  Becoming  a soldier  when  grown,  he  rose 


THE  NORTHERN  BARBARIANS 


99 


rapidly  as  a hero  and  served  under  the  founder 
of  the  Western  Han  dynasty,  and  winning  many 
battles  was  made  prince  of  the  domain  in  which 
lay  his  ancestral  castle.  At  once  he  sought  out 
the  old  woman  who  had  helped  him,  and  made  her 
a present  of  one  thousand  gold  pieces.  He  also 
hunted  up  and  gave  a position  of  trust  to  a man 
who  had  once  dared  him  when  a boy  to  show  his 
grit. 

In  later  life,  slandered  by  enemies  to  the  em- 
peror who  was  founder  of  the  Han  dynasty,  Han 
Sin  expected  to  be  put  to  death,  for  he  knew  how 
often  jealous  men  who  reach  power  handle  cruelly 
their  helpers,  when  the  benefit  of  their  service  has 
been  exhausted.  So  Han  Sin  said,  “When  the 
cunning  hare  is  caught,  the  fleet  hound  goes  into 
the  cooking  pot ; when  the  soaring  bird  is  shot, 
the  trusty  bow  is  laid  aside  ; when  the  foe  is  van- 
quished, the  wise  counselor  is  forgotten.  The  em- 
pire is  now  established,  — it  is  right  that  I should 
go  into  the  cooking  pot.”  He  lived,  however,  some 
years  after  this  episode.  Han  Sin  was  one  of  the 
“ Three  Heroes  ” most  famous  in  Chinese  history. 

This  being  the  first  really  national  dynasty,  the 
Chinese,  especially  the  northerners,  still  speak 
proudly  of  themselves  as  the  Sons  of  Han.  The 
good  opinions  of  the  scholars  were  won  by  repeal- 
ing the  decree  against  them,  by  collecting  the 
books  which  were  hidden  or  had  survived,  and  by 
paying  honor  to  literature  and  offering  sacrifices 


100 


CHINA’S  STORY 


at  the  tomb  of  Confucius.  The  capital  was  lo- 
cated in  Shen  Si,  so  as  to  be  near  the  threatening 
danger,  the  barbarians  of  the  north,  with  which 
the  Chinese  had  to  grapple.  The  Tartars  had  by 
this  time  spread  over  the  northern  part  of  what 
is  now  China  proper. 

These  Mongolians,  of  the  same  stock  as  the 
Huns  and  Turks,  had  no  cities  and  never  dwelt  in 
towns.  Their  homes  were  on  their  horses.  Even 
the  children  were  taught,  when  very  young,  to 
ride  on  the  sheep’s  backs.  Having  no  fields  or  gar- 
dens, their  animals  furnished  them  occupation, 
food,  drink,  clothing,  means  of  travel,  and  power 
in  war.  Tartar  food  was  mainly  meat  and  milk. 
With  their  camels,  asses,  mules,  horses,  and  sheep 
as  their  daily  care,  they  moved  from  place  to  place 
in  search  of  pasture.  They  fought  on  horseback, 
charging  with  wild  shouts  against  their  enemies. 

The  eastern  Tartars  became  the  Manchus  and 
Koreans,  and  also  made  part  of  the  composite  peo- 
ple of  Japan.  The  western  Tartars  at  various 
times  overran  western  Asia,  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  medieval  Europe. 

So  began  and  continued  for  centuries  the  strug- 
gle of  the  Chinese  with  the  fierce  shepherds  and 
wandering  horsemen  of  the  north.  In  its  nature, 
this  strife  was  much  the  same  as  that  rivalry  be- 
tween Abel  and  Cain,  which  we  behold  in  the 
forefront  of  human  history.  One  is  a farmer. 
He  settles  down  to  regular  life,  tills  the  soil,  and 


THE  NORTHERN  BARBARIANS 


101 


begins  the  civilization  which  means  progress.  The 
other  is  a hunter,  or  a shepherd,  who  will  not 
plough  the  ground  or  live  under  a roof.  If  a 
hunter,  he  finds  his  food  in  the  forest.  If  a no- 
mad, he  moves  over  the  earth,  never  abiding  in 
any  one  place.  In  either  case  he  despises,  or  even 
hates,  the  man  of  regular  life.  He  is  apt  to  con- 
sider the  property  of  the  farmer  or  townsman  as 
fair  game,  and  the  tempting  spoils  of  war.  We 
see  the  same  picture  of  life  in  ancient  Israel, 
where  the  wandering  Bedawin  in  the  desert  and 
the  settled  Hebrews  in  the  walled  cities  were  ever 
at  war ; in  early  Japan  between  the  Yamato  men 
and  the  Ainu ; in  Europe  between  the  Romans 
and  the  Teutonic  barbarians,  our  ancestors,  be- 
tween the  lowlanders  and  the  highlanders  of  Scot- 
land, between  our  colonial  fathers  and  the  Indians ; 
and,  indeed,  in  all  human  history. 

War  in  China  had  occasionally  its  comic  side, 
and  many  things  occurred  to  make  one  laugh  as 
well  as  to  mourn.  In  one  case  these  northern 
mauraders,  after  making  a raid,  started  back  to 
carry  off  their  spoil.  The  Chinese  emperor  pur- 
sued them,  but  “ caught  a Tartar,’’  and  was  obliged 
himself  to  get  into  a walled  city.  There  he  might 
have  been  captured,  except  for  a smart  trick 
played  upon  his  enemy.  In  the  Tartar  camp,  the 
barbarous  chieftain’s  wife  had  no  fear  that  her 
husband  would  not  conquer  the  Chinese  men,  but 
she  dreaded  the  Chinese  women,  lest  with  their 


102 


CHINA’S  STORY 


beauty  they  should  steal  away  her  husband’s  af- 
fections. So  the  emperor  stuck  up  on  the  city 
walls  puppets  or  lay  figures,  dressed  and  painted 
to  represent  pretty  Chinese  girls.  He  then  craftily 
sent  a letter  to  the  Tartar  chieftain’s  wife,  saying 
that  he  proposed  to  present  these  lovely  maidens 
to  her  husband.  Instead  of  being  glad  to  hear 
this,  the  lady  developed  a fit  of  fiery  jealousy, 
and  was  not  happy  until  she  had  persuaded  her 
husband  to  raise  the  siege  and  retreat.  This  inci- 
dent made  a great  impression  on  the  northerners, 
who  were  so  feared  yet  despised  by  the  Chinese. 
When  a few  years  afterwards  they  made  another 
irruption,  the  emperor  bought  them  off  by  giving 
his  own  daughter  to  their  leader  and  promising  an 
annual  tribute  of  silk,  wine,  and  grain.  For  cen- 
turies, Tartar  chiefs  made  invasions  southward, 
lured  by  the  beauty  of  the  Chinese  women.  Soon 
we  shall  find  these  Tartar  chiefs  with  Chinese 
wives  claiming  the  throne  through  their  heirs. 

During  this  era,  the  barbarians  fought  among 
themselves.  One  tribe  withdrew  from  Mongolia 
and  moved  westward,  beginning  that  great  march 
which  continued  for  centuries.  They  settled  in 
Bokhara,  and  were  part  of  the  great  movement  of 
the  Huns  that  struck  the  Roman  Empire  so  dis- 
astrously in  the  era  of  its  weakness. 

One  can  see  easily  how  much  alike,  and  at  very 
much  the  same  time,  was  the  work  of  both  the 
Roman  and  the  Chinese  Empire  in  keeping  back 


THE  NORTHERN  BARBARIANS 


103 


the  northern  barbarians,  who  in  Europe  were  the 
Teutons,  our  ancestors,  and  in  Asia  were  Tartars. 
Yet  on  both  continents  and  in  both  empires  there 
were  victories  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war. 

One  emperor,  Wen-ti,  was  renowned  for  his 
filial  devotion.  During  his  mother’s  last  illness, 
which  lasted  three  years,  it  is  said  he  never  left 
her  apartments.  He  was  a very  humane  ruler. 
He  reformed  the  code  of  barbarous  punishment, 
which  hitherto  had  included  branding  on  the  face, 
cutting  off  the  nose,  chopping  off  the  feet,  etc. 
He  also  revived  the  study  of  literature  and  col- 
lected manuscripts.  His  star,  in  the  constellation 
named  after  him,  is  the  abode  of  the  god  of  liter- 
ature. 

Many  stories  are  told  of  battle,  ambuscade,  ad- 
vance, and  retreat  in  these  wars  on  the  northern 
frontier.  To  develop  grand  strategy  and  to  make 
a flank  movement,  one  emperor  invaded  and  an- 
nexed the  northern  part  of  Korea,  then  much 
larger  than  now,  and  including  Liao  Tung.  Wu-ti, 
who  reigned  fifty-four  years,  also  extended  the 
confines  of  the  empire  westward  and  southward. 
Although  so  active  in  war  and  letters,  he  was  very 
superstitious.  He  patronized  magicians  and  sor- 
cerers and  indulged  his  sensual  passions.  One  of 
these  necromancers  professed  to  be  able  to  bridle 
and  mount  dragons  and  bestride  the  hoary  crane, 
and  on  these  coursers  of  the  air  to  visit  the  whole 
universe ; to  make  snow  out  of  silver  and  trans- 


104 


CHINA’S  STORY 


mute  cinnabar  into  gold.  Centuries  after  Wu-ti’s 
time,  these  Chinese  theories,  brought  into  Europe 
by  the  Arabs,  greatly  influenced  our  ancestors’ 
notions  of  alchemy  and  chemistry. 

In  popular  tradition  this  emperor  Wu-ti  bears 
two  different  characters.  In  the  later  wonder  tales, 
he  is  represented  as  being  wooed  by  his  fairy 
visitor,  whose  title  is  the  Western  Royal  Mother. 
She  dwelt  on  a famous  high  mountain,  at  the  head 
of  her  troops  of  genii  and  fairies,  and  from  time 
to  time  she  had  friendly  interviews  with  favored 
emperors.  The  magnificence  of  the  mountain  pal- 
ace of  this  Empress  of  the  West  is  glowingly  de- 
scribed in  the  romances,  and  on  many  a Chinese 
dish,  vase,  or  plate  we  recognize  her  and  her 
train  and  the  story  wrought  in  splendid  colors. 
Here,  by  the  Lake  of  Gems,  grows  the  peach  tree, 
whose  fruit  confers  the  gift  of  immortality,  which 
the  queen  bestows  upon  her  favorites,  and  from 
her  mountain  home  she  sends  out  the  azure- winged 
birds,  who  serve  as  her  attendants  and  messengers. 

A staff  of  generals,  brave  and  daring,  carried 
the  arms  of  Wu-ti  into  the  heart  of  central  Asia. 
By  B.  C.  130  the  tribes  of  Yunnan  were  brought 
under  imperial  rule,  and  the  boundaries  of  China 
propel^  became  very  much  as  they  are  found  to- 
day. Through  these  conquests  the  Chinese  became 
acquainted  with  the  countries  of  the  West,  and 
the  aborigines  and  barbarians  received  much  Chi- 
nese culture.  Travel  was  then  by  land,  for  ships 


THE  NORTHERN  BARBARIANS 


105 


able  to  cross  the  ocean  were  not  yet  known.  Em- 
bassies and  caravans  came  from  Parthia,  Mesopo- 
tamia, Bactria,  and  Afghanistan,  by  which  many 
Greek,  Persian,  and  Hindoo  ideas  and  inventions 
were  brought  to  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Traffic 
opened  with  the  Koman  Empire.  Many  things 
made  in  China  and  inscribed  with  ancient  Chinese 
letters  have  been  found  in  Egypt  and  various 
parts  of  Africa  and  Europe.  The  magnetic  needle 
was  used  to  guide  travelers  on  land  at  night  and 
in  cloudy  and  stormy  weather.  It  was  called  the 
South  Pointing  Chariot,  because  to  the  Chinese 
mind  the  needle  trembled  in  that  direction. 
Forcing  their  way  over  the  mountains,  Chinese 
pilgrims  reached  India  to  bring  back  news  of  great 
treasure  lands  scarcely  known  before.  Buddhist 
missionaries,  for  the  first  time,  found  their  way 
into  China.  The  first  two  are  said  to  have  come 
riding  eastward  on  white  horses,  and  about  the 
same  time  that  St.  Paul  was  moving  westward  into 
Europe. 

Thus  began  the  long  and  glorious  reign  of  the 
Indian  and  Aryan  religion  in  China,  blending 
Mongol  and  Hindoo  ideals  of  life.  Buddhism  has 
done  much  to  uplift  the  Chinese  people,  cheer 
them  in  affliction,  and  minister  to  their  spiritual 
wants  as  Confucianism  could  not,  besides  offering 
the  greatest  of  all  hopes,  — life  hereafter. 

Under  Buddhism,  the  Chinese  landscape  was 
greatly  changed.  The  country  was  covered  with 


106 


CHINA’S  STORY 


shrines  and  sculpture,  pagodas,  monasteries,  and 
temples.  The  Hindoo  and  the  Chinese  were  brought 
together  as  brothers  in  the  same  household  of  faith. 
Asia  became  like  a garden.  Gradually  the  ideals 
of  the  two  races  and  civilizations  commingled.  The 
philosophy  of  India  penetrated  that  of  China.  Of 
the  permanent  and  far-reaching  influence  of  this 
religion  we  may  have  more  to  say.  From  this  time 
the  intellect  of  the  Chinese  is  touched  with  a new 
fertility,  and  their  imagination  stimulated.  China 
becomes  the  land  of  the  pagoda.  The  law  of  ten- 
derness and  mercy  sways  life  as  never  before. 

One  of  the  ministers  of  Wu-ti  was  a great  ex- 
plorer. He  “ pierced  the  void,”  that  is,  penetrated 
into  the  extreme  regions  of  the  hitherto  unknown 
Far  West,  and  discovered  the  sources  of  the  Yel- 
low River.  Before  his  time  this  stream  was  be- 
lieved to  flow  from  the  verge  of  Heaven,  as  a con- 
tinuation of  the  Milky  Way.  Taken  prisoner  by 
the  wild  tribes,  he  lived  among  them  for  many 
years,  brought  back  the  grapevine,  and  re-taught 
his  countrymen  the  art  of  wine-making. 

Around  this  River  of  Heaven  many  pretty 
stories  cluster,  one  of  the  most  famous  being  that 
of  the  Ox-boy  and  the  Weaver-girl.  These  lovers 
meet  on  the  night  of  August  7,  every  year,  over 
a bridge  of  magpies’  wings.  Many  are  the  poems 
recited,  the  songs  sung,  and  the  charming  customs 
based  on  this  legend,  both  in  China  and  in  Japan. 

In  the  long  course  of  centuries  most  of  the 


WIND  liOX  GORGE,  SHOWING  ROCK  STRATA 


hi^:  ■ 


(k  iS*  ' 


THE  NORTHERN  BARBARIANS 


107 


famous  personal  adventures,  exploits  of  travel,  voy- 
ages, martial  deeds,  and  visits  to  wonderful  caves, 
mountains,  or  forests  by  the  various  Chinese  heroes 
became  nursery  legends  or  themes  for  artists,  — 
a veritable  Milky  Way,  full  of  light,  glory,  and 
mystery.  As  with  most  other  histories,  beside  that 
of  China,  the  people  do  not,  cannot,  retain  in  mem- 
ory the  dates,  statistics,  or  exact  details.  They 
hold  the  substance  of  these  chiefly  in  poetry,  art, 
and  pleasing  story,  retaining  what  is  richest  in 
human  interest. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  KISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES 

From  about  the  time  of  the  Christian  era  the 
empire  assumes  the  general  form  and  features  of 
the  civilization  which  we  associate  with  the  word 
Chinese.  The  great  question  of  national  life  and 
growth  presents  itself  in  two  forms,  — interior  de- 
velopment, and  defense  against  enemies.  From 
within,  evolution  is  according  to  the  ideals  of 
Confucius. 

Most  of  these  movements,  including  battles, 
sieges,  rebellions,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  dynas- 
ties, have  very  little  meaning  to  us.  Indeed,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  get  or  hold  clear  ideas  of  the 
personality  of  the  leaders,  whether  generals  or 
statesmen.  The  length  of  China’s  history  and  the 
great  number  of  names  and  persons  forbid  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  average  reader  to  keep 
a clear  picture  of  the  details,  though  the  general 
course  is  clear.  The  subject,  however,  is  divisible 
into  two  parts  : first,  the  struggle  with  the  Tartars, 
until  the  nineteenth  century;  second,  the  clash 
with  the  AYestern  world  of  ideas. 

As  elsewhere,  success  or  failure  decides  what 
name  shall  be  given  in  history  to  the  insurgents 
against  throne  or  government.  If  their  plan  fails, 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES  109 


it  is  rebellion;  if  it  succeeds,  it  is  revolution.  The 
Chinese,  like  other  people,  adjust  their  philosophy 
to  the  facts.  Rebellion  is  the  greatest  of  crimes, 
but  if  successful,  Heaven  has  willed  it  so.  In  the 
human  method  of  reasoning,  success  is  the  mani- 
fest will  of  God.  The  Chinaman  always  acknow- 
ledges a fact.  “ Whatever  is,  is  right.” 

No  one  can  understand  their  government  and 
its  policy  until  he  realizes  that  the  Chinese  are  a 
church-nation,  with  a doctrine  that  is  orthodoxy 
never  to  be  swerved  from,  while  from  time  to 
time  men  who  have  done  great  things  for  China 
are  canonized  as  saints.  The  emperor  is  the  father 
and  high  priest  of  the  whole  nation.  The  govern- 
ment is  the  embodiment  of  China’s  ethical  sys- 
tem. Confucius  was  the  incarnate  conscience  of 
the  nation.  He  taught  that  the  emperor  was  the 
vice-gerent  and  the  Son  of  Heaven.  The  emperor 
is  therefore  the  Father  of  his  People.  He  alone 
mediates  between  his  subjects  or  children  and 
Heaven.  The  supreme  duty  of  each  subject  is  obe- 
dience to  the  emperor.  If  the  emperor  is  not  him- 
self what  he  ought  to  be,  if  the  public  works  are 
neglected  and  the  government  does  not  do  what  it 
ought,  then  the  subject  takes  no  concern,  since  his 
own  duty  is  fulfilled  in  obedience  to  the  emperor, 
who  is  the  representative  of  Heaven  and  destiny. 

The  duties  of  the  emperor  and  his  subjects  are 
reciprocal.  If  there  be  peace  and  prosperity  in  the 
empire,  these  are  the  results  of  his  fatherly  rule. 


110 


CHINA’S  STORY 


But  if  his  subjects  rebel,  or  things  go  wrong,  then 
the  reason  of  it  is,  as  the  emperor  usually  acknow- 
ledges, his  own  lack  of  ability  or  wisdom. 

One  curious  feature  is  common  to  the  state  pa- 
pers of  the  rulers  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  and  the 
countries  which  follow  Chinese  customs : namely, 
their  frequent  and  public  confession  of  sin.  Em- 
peror, mikado,  king,  and  kinglet  acknowledge 
that  in  them  lies  the  fault  of  misrule,  calamities, 
or  rebellion.  If  a rebellion  succeeds,  the  argument 
is  that  Heaven  has  punished  the  sovereign  for  his 
want  of  virtue. 

The  rebellion  during  the  first  Han  dynasty,  in 
A.  D.  9,  in  which  a band  of  marauders  known  as 
the  Red  Eyebrows  figured  prominently,  is  famous. 
They  were  so  named  because  they  dyed  their  eye- 
brows red.  After  a great  battle,  the  Han  dynasty 
was  restored,  and  is  known  as  the  Later  or  East- 
ern Han  dynasty,  which  lasted  from  A.  D.  25  to 
214.  The  chief  events  were  the  introduction  of 
Buddhist  priests  and  books  from  India  ; the  build- 
ing of  a dike,  thirty  miles  long,  to  prevent  the 
overflow  of  the  Yellow  River;  the  marching  of  an 
army  to  the  Caspian  Sea,  that  is,  as  far  as  the  east- 
ern boundaries  of  the  Roman  Empire  ; the  engrav- 
ing of  the  Five  Classics  on  stone  tablets ; and  the 
establishment,  in  A.  D.  175,  of  public  contests  for 
literary  degrees.  These  became  the  basis  of  the 
civil  service  examinations,  which  have  lasted  to  our 
day. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES  111 


Henceforward  employment  in  official  life  was 
possible  only  to  those  who  could  pass  an  exami- 
nation in  the  classics,  the  writing  of  verses,  and 
the  composition  of  essays.  This  system  came  to 
be  very  widely  organized.  Halls  were  built  in  the 
district,  province,  and  national  capitals,  and  to 
these  came  the  young  men  from  all  quarters.  Set- 
ting out  from  their  native  villages,  the  candidates 
would  gather  together  and  journey  over  the  same 
road,  often  carrying  banners  duly  inscribed  with 
mottoes  or  the  names  of  their  homes.  In  thou- 
sands of  cells,  with  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  and  their 
food,  also,  they  were  shut  up  and  carefully  guarded, 
to  secure  fair  play  for  all.  Here  they  remained 
many  hours  and  sometimes  days.  It  frequently 
happened  that  the  ambition  of  some  was  too  great 
for  their  nerves  or  strength,  and  they  were  found 
dead  at  their  desks.  The  examiners  and  judges 
assigned  the  questions  and  looked  over  the  papers, 
making  the  awards  at  an  appointed  time.  The 
successful  candidate,  on  reaching  home,  was  re- 
ceived in  his  native  village  and  ancestral  temple 
with  banners,  songs,  speeches  of  welcome,  and 
other  evidences  of  local  joy.  In  time,  many  fool- 
ish and  amusing  customs  grew  up.  What  we  call 
hazing,  or  ragging,  was  often  boisterous  and  rough. 

Those  who  attended  were  not  always  young. 
Some  beginning  early  in  life  might  try  again  year 
after  year.  The  sight  of  gray-haired  students  was 
very  common.  The  life  of  many  a literary  man 


112 


CHINA’S  STORY 


was  spent  in  examinations.  It  was  not  rare  to  find 
a grandfather,  father,  and  son  at  the  same  exam- 
ination. Only  a small  percentage  of  applicants 
were  able  to  meet  the  test,  but  most  of  these  re- 
ceived office.  In  time,  passing  successfully  through 
other  examinations,  these  became  mayors  of  cities, 
governors  of  provinces,  or  high  officers  of  the  em- 
pire. 

The  large  majority  of  those  who  failed  would  go 
back  home  to  become  teachers,  clerks,  or  literary 
men.  Educated  men  were  thus  found  all  over 
China,  and  village  schoolmasters  were  numerous. 
As  a class  they  were  very  conservative  in  their 
notions,  being  opposed  to  changes  in  customs  or 
religion  .;  but  otherwise  they  were  centres  of  cul- 
ture for  the  uplift  of  the  masses. 

Following  the  Han  dynasty  came  the  period  of 
the  Three  Kingdoms  of  Wei  in  the  North,  Wu  in 
the  South,  and  Shu  in  the  West,  reminding  one 
of  the  division  at  Verdun  of  Charlemagne’s  em- 
pire among  his  grandsons,  whence  began  the  evo- 
lution of  the  French,  Germans,  and  Italians;  or 
of  the  three  countries  of  Great  Britain,  — Scot- 
land, England,  and  Wales. 

While  probably  not  so  important  in  history, 
this  period  A.  D.  221-277  kindles  the  Chinese 
imagination,  because  the  novelists,  romancers,  and 
artists  have  made  it  appear  the  most  romantic  in 
all  Chinese  history.  Outwardly  it  resembled  the 
age  of  chivalry  in  Europe.  To  this  day  street  story- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES  113 


tellers  and  actors  on  the  stage  never  tire  of  pic- 
turing in  word,  act,  or  costume  the  events  of  this 
era.  According  to  fiction  and  drama,  there  were 
a great  many  heroes  and  heroines  who  had  amaz- 
ing adventures,  exciting  escapes,  and  joyful  tri- 
umphs, quite  equal  to  any  to  be  found  in  our  dime 
novels.  In  China,  Korea,  and  Japan,  one  of  the 
most  popular  books  is  a long  romance,  entitled 
“ The  Three  Kingdoms,”  so  full  of  incident  as  to 
remind  one  of  a moving  picture  show.  To  a Chi- 
nese boy,  this  era  is  as  wonderful  as  is  that  of 
Bruce  and  Wallace  to  a Scottish  lad. 

Among  the  instances  narrated  as  historical  was 
that  of  three  generals  who  took  the  “ Peach  Gar- 
den Oath  ” by  drawing  blood  from  one  another’s 
arms,  mingling  it,  and  drinking  it,  — a custom 
which  has  since  become  common  to  men  engaged 
in  desperate  enterprises.  So  terrible  a fighter  was 
one  of  these  generals  that  after  death  he  was  dei- 
fied as  the  god  of  war,  and  is  now  worshiped 
all  over  China.  As  with  other  gods  of  pagan 
people,  those  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  were  once 
men.  Indeed,  the  history  of  China  and  Japan  and 
other  Asiatic  nations  is  largely  taken  up  with  the 
manufacture  of  gods,  that  are  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  common  men,  whose  ghosts  the  igno- 
rant and  vulgar  fear  and  worship.  When  Islam 
came  to  China  with  its  message,  “ There  is  no 
God  but  God,”  it  brought  a truth  to  help  and 
uplift. 


114 


CHINA’S  STORY 


It  being  difficult  for  the  average  man,  who  lives 
and  dies  near  the  spot  on  which  he  was  born,  to 
hold  clearly  the  idea  of  one  God,  it  is  necessary 
for  him,  he  thinks,  to  believe  in  scores,  hundreds, 
thousands,  and  even  millions  of  petty  deities. 
Every  village,  locality,  mountain,  and  valley  has 
its  gods.  They  swarm  on  the  roof,  cellar,  well, 
garden,  swamp,  wood,  hills,  and  rivers.  Temples 
are  crowded  with  their  images.  In  a festival,  or 
pageant,  the  scholar  can  recognize  their  effigies 
in  threefold  character ; as  men  who  once  lived  on 
the  earth,  as  deities  with  names  and  titles,  and  as 
fanciful  creatures  that  cause  terror,  delight,  or 
merriment.  Superstition  keeps  the  people  poor. 
Armies  of  priests,  diviners,  and  sorcerers  fatten 
and  get  rich  by  playing  on  popular  hopes  and  fears. 

The  achievements  and  actions  of  these  men- 
gods  have  given  rise  to  many  proverbs  or  popular 
sayings.  Nearly  every  trade  or  craft  has  its  patron 
god.  For  example.  Pan,  an  ingenious  mechanic, 
to  avenge  his  father’s  death,  carved  an  effigy  in 
wood,  whose  hand  pointed  toward  the  kingdom  of 
W u.  In  consequence,  a drought  prevailed  for  the 
space  of  three  years.  The  men  of  Wu  paid  Pan 
a large  sum  of  money  to  have  him  cut  off  the 
hand  of  the  figure,  which  he  did,  and  at  once  rain 
fell.  Hence  the  masons  and  carpenters  of  China 
worship  him,  and  the  proverb  “ skillful  in  the 
house  of  Pan  ” means  much  the  same  as  “ Preach- 
ing to  Buddha,”  or  “ carrying  coals  to  Newcastle.” 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES  115 


Another  military  craftsman  in  Han  days  moved 
his  army  so  fast  that  he  was  said  to  have  employed 
“ wooden  oxen  and  machine  - made  horses,  ” by 
which  some  think  are  meant  wheel-barrows,  which 
in  China  are  used  as  land  boats  with  sails  and  as 
passenger  cars,  as  well  as  to  carry  pigs,  vege- 
tables, and  freight.  He  also  invented  a bow  that 
would  shoot  many  arrows  at  one  time,  and  his 
system  of  tactics  in  eight  lines  of  battle  has  been 
much  discussed. 

In  another  case  a defeated  general,  with  only  a 
handful  of  men,  beat  his  enemies  “ by  means  of 
broomsticks.”  While  in  retreat,  he  occupied  a 
walled  town  that  had  been  deserted,  and  ordered 
his  men  to  throw  open  the  gates  and  stand  with 
brooms  in  their  hands,  while  he  climbed  up  into 
a tower  over  the  city  wall  and  began  to  play  upon 
the  lute.  The  enemy,  suspecting  an  ambuscade, 
retreated. 

Incessant  border  wars  followed  the  era  of  the 
Three  Kingdoms.  The  northern  Tartars  seemed 
to  make  constant  progress  southward.  They  cov- 
eted the  high-bred  women  of  the  south  for  wives. 
When  victorious,  their  leaders  demanded  Chinese 
princesses  who  married  their  conquerors,  so  that 
in  time  these  northern  chieftains,  through  their 
children,  could  claim  to  be  heirs  to  the  imperial 
throne.  Through  these  women,  Chinese  writing, 
etiquette,  learning,  medicine,  and  general  culture 
were  spread  through  the  northern  regions. 


116 


CHINA’S  STORY 


It  became  the  custom  also  in  this  ancestor- 
worshiping  country  that  whenever  the  claimant 
of  the  throne  was  successful,  he  would  seize  the 
old  capital  or  establish  a new  one. 

Casting  out  the  ancestral  tablets  of  those  whom 
he  had  overcome,  he  set  up  in  their  place  those  of 
his  own  ancestors.  Giving  his  dynasty  an  auspi- 
cious name,  he  and  his  descendants  would  hold 
the  power  as  long  as  possible.  Yet  it  became  the 
law  of  history  that  dynasties  should  rise  and  fall, 
while  the  people,  ever  steadily  gaining,  remained. 
Imperial  families  perished,  but  the  nation  lived, 
becoming  ever  greater. 

Yet  while  the  Tartars  and  Chinese,  like  Greek 
and  barbarian,  Roman  and  Teuton,  mingled  to- 
gether, there  were  also  many  disintegrating  forces. 
In  the  north,  as  in  a similar  case  and  time  in 
Europe,  there  sprang  up  a great  many  small  king- 
doms, so  that  there  were  constant  hostilities  be- 
tween the  cultured  in  the  south  and  the  rude 
peoples  in  the  north.  The  process  resembled  very 
much  that  of  the  struggle  of  the  Roman  Empire 
with  the  Teutonic  barbarians  and  later  of  Chris- 
tianity with  northern  paganism.  On  both  conti- 
nents there  was  first  the  successful  invasion,  the 
destruction  of  the  old  power,  and  then  the  forma- 
tion of  new  nations,  governments,  and  types  of 
man.  When  the  barbarians  accepted  and  assimi- 
lated the  civilization  of  the  conquered,  they  yielded 
themselves  to  them  and  became  like  them.  Con- 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES  117 


quest  by  force  is  always  temporary.  The  victories 
of  peace  are  permanent. 

This  first  great  struggle  with  the  Tartars  ended 
when  the  Sui  dynasty,  which  held  power  from 
A.  D.  599  to  618,  was  established.  The  whole  em- 
pire was  one  household  again,  and  those  once 
foreigners  within  the  empire  had  yielded  them- 
selves not  only  to  the  superior  civilization  of  the 
conquered,  but  to  their  religion,  so  that  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  they  were  Chinese. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  changing  dynasties 
that  many  stories  were  told  in  which  sentimental 
ideas  about  the  moon  and  the  jade  stone,  with 
other  notions  in  the  world  which  is  outside  of 
science,  grew  up,  and  these  have  been  developed 
by  writers  of  fiction  and  poetry.  As  these  still  in- 
fluence powerfully  the  Chinese  in  their  art  and 
every-day  life,  it  is  well  to  glance  at  them. 

The  moon  is  the  favorite  home  of  the  fairies, 
and  one  wonders  what  the  story-tellers  would  do 
without  this  ornament  of  the  night  sky.  The  moon 
is  the  refuge  of  lovely  women  when  persecuted, 
and  at  this  terminal  the  famous  characters  in  the 
fairy  world  arrive  sooner  or  later.  Chinese  chil- 
dren, according  as  they  are  taught  the  fairy,  the 
Buddhist,  or  the  Taoist  legends,  or  all  of  them, 
see  three  different  figures  on  the  moon’s  face. 

The  Archer  Lord  who,  in  b.  c.  2435,  served  the 
emperor,  is  famous  as  the  moon’s  deliverer.  When 
the  precious  pearl  of  heaven  was  being  swallowed 


118 


CHINA’S  STORY 


by  a dragon,  this  worthy  shot  arrows  into  the  sky 
and  gave  deliverance  from  the  monster.  His  wife 
stole  from  him  the  drug  of  immortality  which 
grows  in  the  moon-world  and  had  been  given  him 
by  the  W estern  Royal  Mother,  who  dwells  on  the 
sacred  mountain -top,  amid  troops  of  genii  and 
the  azure-winged  birds,  and  in  whose  gardens  the 
precious  cassia  tree  flourishes.  With  the  coveted 
booty  the  jealous  wife  fled  to  the  moon,  but  was 
changed  into  a frog,  and  there  she  is  yet,  and  Chi- 
nese children  will  trace  the  outline  on  the  full 
moon’s  surface  on  a bright  night. 

Other  young  folks,  who  have  read  the  story  of 
the  Man  in  the  Moon,  see  Mr.  Kang,  who,  for 
some  offense  against  the  supernal  powers,  was 
banished  to  the  white  planet  and  condemned  to 
labor  without  ceasing  in  trying  to  hew  down  the 
cassia,  or  cinnamon  tree,  which  grows  there.  As 
fast  as  his  axe  falls,  the  wood  closes  again.  So  his 
labors  are  endless  and  all  for  naught.  This  is  at 
root  and  in  idea  the  same  man  in  the  moon,  and 
it  is  the  same  story  told  in  Europe  a thousand 
years  ago,  of  the  sinner  who  broke  the  Sabbath 
by  gathering  fagots  of  wood  and  is  still  carrying 
them. 

In  the  moon  grows  the  cassia  tree,  at  the  foot 
of  which  crouches  the  hare  that  pounds  drugs  for 
the  genii.  As  this  noble  tree  is  especially  brilliant 
at  mid-autumn,  those  who  take  a degree  at  the  lit- 
erary examinations  “ pluck  a leaf  from  the  cassia 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  DYNASTIES  119 


tree.”  At  this  time  the  moon  is  worshiped  and 
the  children  enjoy  immensely  the  moon  cakes 
which  are  made  in  honor  of  the  season. 

The  Japanese,  who  borrowed  so  many  of  their 
ideas  and  legends  from  China,  as  we  did  most  of 
ours  from  the  nations  in  Asia,  tell  us  that  it  is  the 
reddening  leaves  of  the  cassia,  or  katsura  tree, 
that  causes  the  effulgence  of  the  autumn  moon. 
The  islanders  have  stories  also  of  moon-maidens 
visiting  the  earth  and  returning  to  their  silvery 
palace  in  the  sky.  Chinese  who  admire  a very 
beautiful  woman  may  call  her  The  Lady  of  the 
Moon,  in  reference  to  the  one  who  fled  with  the 
immortal  drug.* 

Jade,  or  nephrite,  is  a real  mineral,  which,  apart 
from  its  beauty  or  comparative  rarity,  has  a thou- 
sand sentimental  values.  The  word  jade  is  one  of 
a hundred  or  more,  like  joss,  junk,  mandarin,  cat- 
sup (or  ketchup),  etc.,  which  foreigners  think  is 
Chinese,  and  Chinese  think  is  foreign.  It  is  of 
Spanish  origin,  meaning  colic  (stone).  Nephrite 
is  Greek,  meaning  kidney  (stone).  The  mineral 
was  so  named  by  our  ancestors,  who  were  often  as 
superstitious  as  the  Chinese,  because  they  im- 
agined it  would  cure  the  stomach-ache  or  kidney 
disease.  The  hard  stone,  worked  into  tools  and 
used  as  axes,  knives,  etc.,  is  found  all  over  the 
world,  but  is  believed  to  have  come  in  every  case 
from  China,  where  it  is  called  yu.  Being  so  costly, 
the  Chinese  from  ancient  times,  as  the  poems 


120 


CHINA’S  STORY 


edited  by  Confucius  show,  considered  it  their  chief 
gem,  and  made  sceptres,  bracelets,  vases,  and  orna- 
ments of  it.  To  them  it  was  the  symbol  of  all  that 
is  most  excellent  in  human  life  and  virtue.  Like 
heaven,  of  which  it  is  an  emblem,  it  combines  the 
highest  strength  with  the  purest  effulgence.  As 
the  most  perfect  expression  of  the  positive  mascu- 
line principle  in  nature,  various  magical  virtues 
have  been  attributed  to  it.  The  mystical  treaties 
of  the  immortals  are  inscribed  on  tablets  of  jade. 
These  tell  us  that  the  liquid  flowing  from  the  jade 
mountains,  after  a thousand  years,  becomes  clear 
as  crystal.  If  to  this  liquid  a certain  herb  be 
added,  the  drinker  of  the  draught  attains  millen- 
nial life.  By  virtue  of  this  “ jade  spirit  beverage,” 
he  becomes  incorporeal  and  is  able  to  soar  through 
the  air  without  wings,  balloon,  or  aeroplane.  It  is 
curious  to  read  that  this  rock  of  jade  stone,  where 
the  genii  live  and  whence  flows  the  liquor  of  im- 
mortality, is  placed  by  ancient  writers  seventy 
thousand  li  to  the  west.  Of  the  jade  tree  blossom- 
ing in  the  moon,  we  have  already  heard. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE 

Wen  Ti,  the  first  Sui  Emperor  (a.  d.  589- 
605)  was  an  unusually  able  ruler.  He  practiced 
what  he  preached,  and  faced  the  logic  of  his  creed. 
Ascribing  the  calamity  of  a famine  to  his  own  lack 
of  virtue,  he  made  a pilgrimage  to  a high  moun- 
tain and  there  confessed  his  sins  and  prayed  for 
forgiveness.  Attracted  by  his  fame,  envoys  from 
distant  tribes  visited  his  court.  His  successor, 
Yang  Ti,  was  infamous  and  extravagant.  He  built 
many  canals,  compelling  even  the  women  to  work 
in  digging  them.  One  of  these,  connecting  the 
Yellow  and  Yang-tse  rivers,  became  the  Grand 
Canal.  In  his  luxurious  palaces,  he  rivaled  Solo- 
mon in  collecting  beautiful  women  for  his  harem. 

When  Korea  refused  to  forward  the  usual  trib- 
ute, the  emperor  sent  an  army  of  three  hundred 
thousand  men  into  Liao  Tung  province,  then  part 
of  “ the  little  outpost  state  on  the  eastern  fron- 
tier,” and  besieged  the  capital.  The  military  oper- 
ations, in  A.  D.  610,  took  place  about  where  the 
great  campaign  between  the  Russians  and  Japa- 
nese was  fought  in  1904,  another  conflict  being 
waged  near  the  Yalu  River.  The  Chinese  were 
defeated,  but  the  emperor  insisted  upon  raising 


122 


CHINA’S  STORY 


another  army  and  again  attacking  the  Koreans, 
whose  splendid  courage  had  been  so  manifested  in 
their  fortresses.  When  in  A.  D.  615  this  mighty 
expedition  moved  eastward  again,  the  Korean 
king  yielded  and  promised  submission.  Embassies 
from  Japan  also  visited  the  imperial  court.  After 
campaigns  with  the  Turkomans  on  the  west,  the 
latter  joined,  as  allies,  with  the  imperial  general 
Li  Yuan,  who  in  618  a.  d.  became  master  of  the 
empire  and  established  the  great  Tang  line  of 
rulers,  one  of  the  longest  of  China’s  dynasties. 

In  China  the  rulers  change  often,  but  the  people 
remain  one.  Her  social  system  seems  unchangeable. 
Japan,  on  the  contrary,  that  appears  so  elastic  and 
ready  to  change,  has  had  but  one  imperial  dynasty. 
Over  thirty  acknowledged  families  of  rulers  have 
occupied  the  Chinese  throne.  The  contrasted  sit- 
uations in  Japan  and  China  are  the  results  of  dif- 
ferent political  theories.  In  China  government 
rests  on  the  idea  of  virtue  in  the  emperor,  the  Son 
of  Heaven,  who  alone  has  the  right  to  worship 
Heaven,  bearing  their  sins  and  asking  blessings 
for  his  people.  In  Japan  government  rests  on  the 
idea  of  the  divine  right  of  hereditary  succession 
to  the  throne,  as  one  may  read  in  the  first  clause 
of  the  Constitution  of  1889.  In  China  no  historic 
dynasty  has  ever  continued  during  three  hundred 
years.  In  Japan  there  has  been  one  ruling  house 
since  the  written  history  of  the  sixth  century,  or 
in  legend  from  B.  c.  660.  When  China  shall  have 


ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE  123 


adopted  representative  government,  the  responsi- 
bility will  be,  as  it  has  not  been,  shared  by  the 
people. 

The  arts  both  o£  war  and  of  peace  were  highly 
cultivated  during  the  Tang  period,  from  A.  D.  618 
to  905.  The  foot  soldiers  were  equipped  with 
longer  pikes  and  stronger  bows.  The  cavalry,  in 
which  the  Tartars  had  hitherto  excelled,  was  now 
better  organized  and  cultivated  by  the  Chinese. 
Most  of  the  tactics  and  ideas  of  strategy  which 
were  adopted  in  this  age  remained  in  fashion  in 
China  down  to  the  Russo-Japanese  War. 

Still  older  is  the  Book  of  War,  the  military 
classic  of  Chin,  which  was  written  in  the  fourth 
century  B.  c.,  and  which  has  been  read  and  studied 
in  the  whole  Chinese  world  of  culture.  Even  after 
the  Japanese,  rejecting  chariots,  umbrellas,  and 
fans,  conchs  and  kettle-drums,  had  adopted  artil- 
lery and  rifles,  the  sayings  of  the  two  authors.  Sun 
and  Wu,  wrought  into  proverbs  and  maxims,  fired 
their  resolution  and  carried  them  through  the 
Russian  war.  The  reason  is  that  this  classic,  over 
two  thousand  years  old,  deals  less  with  strategy 
and  tactics  than  with  the  morale,  or  spirit,  of  com- 
manders and  their  troops,  regarding  the  state  of 
mind  as  of  even  more  importance  than  missiles 
and  supplies.  Uniforms  and  weapons  change,  but 
not  the  mind  of  the  soldier.  Human  nature  re- 
mains ever  the  same.  The  spirit  of  the  true  war- 
rior, the  coward,  the  brave  man,  the  deserter,  the 


124 


CHINA’S  STORY 


homesick  follower,  and  the  general  traits  of  the 
commander  and  the  commanded  have  altered 
little,  if  at  all,  in  two  thousand  years.  The  Chinese 
are  governed  less  by  sentiment  than  by  reason. 

Most  famous  of  all  in  the  Tang  dynasty  was  the 
emperor  Tai-Tsung,  who  reigned  from  A.  D.  627 
to  650.  He  built  a library  in  which  two  hundred 
thousand  volumes  were  stored  and  used.  He  held 
discussions  on  morals  and  the  best  methods  of  gov- 
ernment. There  is  a vivid  picture  of  his  court,  in 
the  year  630,  when  embassies  from  many  vassal 
states  and  kingdoms,  and  even  from  the  island 
empire  of  Japan,  were  present.  The  variety  of 
languages  and  diversity  and  brilliancy  of  the  cos- 
tumes of  the  envoys  excited  much  interest  and 
caused  some  merriment  in  the  capital. 

Tai-Tsung’s  generals  overcame  the  Turkomans, 
and  he  himself  led  an  army  into  Korea,  but  here 
again  the  notable  valor  of  the  Koreans,  when  be- 
sieged, brought  disaster  and  demoralization  to  the 
Chinese,  who  had  to  retreat.  But  the  Chinese  per- 
severed, and  in  667  sent  another  expedition  to 
Korea.  The  city  of  Ping  Yang  — the  same  before 
which  the  great  battles  of  1593  and  1904  were 
fought  — was  besieged  and  surrendered.  Korea 
again  became  vassal,  and  was  divided  into  five 
colonies  with  Chinese  overseers. 

A fresh  enemy  appeared  on  the  west  when  the 
Tibetans,  then  called  Turfans,  became  hostile. 
Kokonor,  or  the  Azure  Lake,  was  the  scene  of  a 


ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE  125 


battle  in  which  the  Tibetans  were  beaten.  A new 
Tartar  tribe  invaded  from  the  north,  ravaging 
and  plundering.  From  its  name,  Khitai,  comes  the 
familiar  word  “Cathay.” 

One  of  the  longest  reigns  in  Chinese  history 
was  that  of  a woman,  the  empress  Wu-Hu,  who 
ruled  from  A.  D.  684  to  705.  After  her  time,  the 
story  of  the  Tang  dynasty  is  that  of  decay,  there 
being  many  insurrections.  Yet  this  epoch  is  bril- 
liant in  history,  because  in  the  year  A.  D.  7 85  the 
Han-lin  or  Imperial  Academy  was  founded.  The 
words  mean  Forest  of  Pencils.  The  hall  in  which 
the  scholars  met  was  called  later  the  Jeweled 
Dome.  In  front  of  the  gateway  of  the  college  grew 
magnolia  trees,  so  that  it  was  also  known  as  the 
Jeweled  Magnolias.  At  the  examination,  held 
once  in  three  years,  only  six  candidates  were 
chosen.  In  Peking,  in  1900,  during  the  Boxer 
troubles,  the  vast  library  of  the  Han-lin,  with  its 
precious  treasures,  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

In  this  Tang  epoch,  also,  the  oldest  newspaper 
in  the  world,  the  official  Gazette  of  the  Court, 
was  founded,  to  publish  the  edicts  of  the  emperor. 
This  era  is  well  called  the  Augustan  age  of  Chi- 
nese literature,  and  its  famous  poets  and  philoso- 
phers are  regarded  as  models  and  their  language 
as  the  standard. 

Nestorian  missionaries  had  entered  China  as 
early  as  A.  D.  506,  but  in  the  eighth  century  they 
increased  in  number  and  met  with  great  success. 


126 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Christian  ideas  greatly  influenced  Buddhist  philo- 
sophy in  China,  but  even  more  in  Japan.  There 
still  stands  a tablet,  upon  which  is  recorded  in 
outline  a summary  of  the  Nestorian  form  of 
Christianity,  in  Chinese  characters. 

The  population  of  China  proper  was  reduced 
some  millions  by  the  wars,  civil  and  foreign,  which 
marked  the  later  days  of  the  Tang  dynasty.  From 
A.  D.  907  to  960  is  the  epoch  of  the  five  dynasties 
whose  heads  were  Tartar  chieftains  or  of  Turko- 
man origin.  Here  again  the  conditions  in  Europe 
and  Asia  were  much  alike.  This  may  be  called 
also  the  period  of  military  despotism,  and  yet  one 
invention  made  at  this  time  was  destined  to  have 
a large  influence  upon  mankind.  In  932  the  art 
of  printing  with  wooden  blocks  was  invented,  and 
the  Five  Classics  of  Confucius  and  the  Four 
Books  were  printed.  Later  on,  “ living  types,”  or, 
as  we  call  them,  “ movable  ” types,  were  invented 
and  much  used  in  Korea  and  China.  There  is  no 
convincing  evidence  that  printing  was  invented  in 
Europe.  It  was  probably  brought  there  out  of 
China,  where  it  had  been  used  for  centuries, 
during  the  Mongol  invasions.  Once  in  Germany 
and  the  Netherlands,  this  Chinese  art  came  rapidly 
into  general  use. 

During  the  Tang  era,  the  teachers  and  mis- 
sionaries of  both  Taoism  and  Buddhism  were  very 
active.  It  was  an  age  of  toleration  and  brother- 
hood. A constant  stream  of  learned  Hindoo 


# 


ROCK  SCULPTURKD  BY  THE  BUDDHISTS 


iMk< 


ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE  127 


priests  came  into  China,  bringing  books,  writing, 
new  ideas  in  ethics,  art,  literature,  and  architec- 
ture. At  one  time  there  were  three  thousand 
priests  from  India  and  ten  thousand  Hindoo  fam- 
ilies in  China.  Gradually  Aryan  thought  pene- 
trated the  minds  of  scholars.  Sanskrit  script  gave 
the  Chinese  the  idea  of  an  alphabet,  spelling  by 
syllables,  and  an  easier  system  of  writing  for  the 
common  people,  thus  helping  greatly  the  spread 
of  general  education.  New  popular  festivals  were 
instituted.  Temples,  pagodas,  extensive  rock  carv- 
ings, monasteries,  and  nunneries  began  to  be 
very  numerous.  Not  a few  shrines  became  re- 
nowned for  the  holy  relics  of  the  saints,  and 
gained  gradually  a reputation  for  miracle-working 
which  drew  myriads  of  visitors  thither,  thus  stim- 
ulating habits  of  travel  and  pilgrimages.  In  spite 
of  all  opposition  from  the  literati  and  even  from 
the  nation’s  great  high  priest,  the  emperor.  Bud- 
dhism flourished  until  it  reached  its  culmination 
of  popularity  in  the  twelfth  century,  when  it 
began  to  decline. 

It  was  not  the  ethics  of  Buddhism,  but  its  doc- 
trines of  hope,  consolation,  retribution,  and  of  the 
boundless  compassion  of  the  Buddha,  in  new  in- 
carnations of  mercy,  that  made  it  acceptable  to 
the  masses.  Confucianism  attracts  intellectual  men 
and  works  for  order  and  government,  but  it  means 
also  the  subjugation  of  women.  It  has  little  in- 
spiration or  aspiration.  Its  head  and  front  is 


128 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Heaven,  or  impersonal  Law.  The  “ high  church  ” 
Buddhists  reckon  a regular  succession  of  patri- 
archs from  the  Buddha,  or  Shakyamuni  of  India, 
who  lived  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ. 

Taoism,  taking  more  and  more  the  form  of 
magic,  alchemy,  the  attempted  mastery  of  matter, 
ran  off  into  mystical  speculation  upon  corporeal 
immortality,  the  elixir  of  life,  alchemy,  transmu- 
tation of  metals,  aviation  on  dragons,  cranes,  etc. 

One  of  the  Eight  Immortals  of  the  Taoists  is 
often  met  with  and  easily  recognized  in  the  art  of 
the  Chinese  world,  being  an  especial  favorite  with 
Japanese  artists  also.  This  eighth-century  man 
rode  on  a white  mule,  which  carried  him  thousands 
of  miles  a day.  When  he  halted  he  condensed  the 
beast  into  small  compass,  folding  it  up  and  hiding 
the  skin  in  his  wallet.  When  he  would  travel 
again,  he  spurted  water  from  his  mouth,  when 
presto  ! the  mule  resumed  his  proper  shape.  Pre- 
ferring the  life  of  a tramp,  he  declined  even  the 
invitation  of  the  emperor  to  be  a priest  at  court. 
He  “ became  a guest  in  heaven,”  that  is,  entered 
upon  immortality  without  suffering  bodily  dis- 
solution, and  in  his  honor  one  of  the  million  or 
more  shrines  in  the  empire  was  erected. 

Another  famous  immortal  who  practiced  reflec- 
tion and  self-examination,  when  not  in  a mood 
for  thought,  could  put  his  supernal  self  into  a 
gourd.  Then  at  will  he  would  uncork  the  vessel 
and  let  his  visible  soul  be  projected  upon  the 


ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE  129 


clouds  or  air,  and  thus  study  his  own  personality. 
We  meet  with  him  often  in  the  art  of  Japan  and 
China  on  porcelain,  vase,  or  sword-guards,  at  his 
favorite  occupation  of  enjoying  his  dual  person- 
ality. 

Progress  in  art  was  also  notable  during  the 
Tang  era,  the  impulses  of  which  were  felt  in 
Korea  and  Japan,  notably  stimulating  and  devel- 
oping the  schools  of  artists  at  the  capitals,  Sunto 
and  Nara,  and  hastening  the  erection  of  the  colos- 
sal images  of  Buddha  in  both  pupil  countries. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  paintings  of  the 
dragons  as  symbols  of  power.  Buddhism  enriched 
the  folk-lore,  in  which  the  dragon  holds  so  promi- 
nent a place  that  we  must  here  glance  at  this 
creature,  the  cyclopedia  of  all  the  vital  forces  in 
nature. 

There  is  a famous  story  about  the  Dragon 
Mother,  who  is  a deified  being,  worshiped  at  a 
celebrated  temple.  There  was  once  an  old  woman 
who  gained  her  living  by  catching  fish.  One  day 
she  found  an  enormous  egg,  which  she  carried 
home.  Out  of  it  came  forth  a creature  which 
aided  her  in  fishing.  By  accident  the  old  woman 
cut  off  a part  of  the  creature’s  tail,  whereupon  it 
left  her  and  she  thought  no  more  of  it,  except  to 
mourn  her  loss,  for  she  could  not  catch  as  many 
fish  as  before.  Some  years  afterwards,  this  same 
creature  returned  in  such  splendor  that  the  old 
woman  at  once  recognized  it  as  a dragon.  The 


130 


CHINA’S  STORY 


emperor  summoned  her  to  give  an  account  of  her 
wonderful  adventures.  She  started  to  go,  but 
when  halfway  to  the  Court  she  was  overcome 
with  a longing  for  home.  Thereupon  a dragon  at 
once  appeared  and  transported  her  in  an  instant 
to  the  banks  of  the  stream  where  she  lived.  As 
the  story  went  down  the  ages  and  others  hoped  to 
receive  similar  summons  to  the  Court  and  ride  on 
the  dragon’s  back,  this  fish  woman  came  to  be 
revered  as  a divinity  and  the  patroness  of  navi- 
gators on  the  West  River,  where  the  sailors  still 
worship  her. 

The  Chinese  do  not  seem  to  have  used  balloons 
or  to  have  had  recourse  to  aeroplanes,  but  there 
are  a great  many  stories  of  aerial  coursers,  who 
on  the  backs  of  dragons  or  storks  traverse  swiftly 
the  atmosphere  on  their  important  errands. 

“ High  mounted  on  the  dragon’s  back  he  rode 
Aloft  to  where  the  dazzling  cloudlands  lie,” 

is  about  the  way  some  romances  begin.  There  are 
also  hundreds  of  stories  of  Taoists  and  wise  men 
of  the  mountain,  or  sennin,  taking  these  voyages 
in  the  air  with  dirigible  creatures.  On  the  backs 
of  whales  or  great  fishes,  also,  they  bring  art, 
letters,  and  material  blessings  across  the  sea. 

More  important,  even,  than  the  rise  and  fall  of 
a dynasty  was  the  discovery  in  southern  China  of 
a plant  from  whose  leaf  a delicious,  perfumed, 
mildly  stimulating  drink  could  be  brewed.  As  a 


FISHING  VILLAGE  IN  FUKIEN  PROVINCE 


ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE  131 


rival  of  the  grape,  and  filling  “ the  cups  that  cheer 
but  not  inebriate,”  tea  has  been  a blessing  to 
China  and  the  race.  The  use  of  tea  helped  might- 
ily, thus  early  in  their  history,  to  make  and  keep 
the  Chinese  a temperate  people. 

The  tea-plant  is  the  queen  of  the  camellia  fam- 
ily. It  was  not  always  used  as  it  is  now.  The 
method  of  serving  it  has  passed  through  several 
stages  of  evolution  in  social  use.  Originating  in 
southern  China,  probably  during  the  Han  era,  it 
was  known  first  in  botany  as  a medicine,  and  its 
leaves  were  made  into  plasters  for  rheumatism. 
As  a drink,  the  Taoists  first  made  it  known,  for 
with  them  it  was  an  ingredient  in  the  elixir  of  im- 
mortality. It  is  alluded  to  in  the  classics  as  Tou, 
from  which  the  modern  character  tcha,  cha,  tea, 
or  te,  is  derived.  The  Buddhist  monks,  on  coming 
from  India  into  China,  were  delighted  to  discover 
its  exhilarating  qualities,  and  they  brewed  it  dur- 
ing their  night  vigils  to  prevent  sleep.  Indeed  the 
legend  of  its  origin  is  associated  with  religion. 

Dharma,  the  holy  saint  from  south  India,  was 
accustomed  to  give  himself  to  midnight  devotions. 
One  night  nature  revolted,  and  he  fell  asleep 
until  morning.  Waking  up  in  horror  at  his  lapse 
from  holiness,  he  pulled  out  a sharp  knife,  cut  off 
his  eyelids  and  threw  them  on  the  ground.  Presto ! 
there  sprang  up  twin  plants,  each  with  pearly  white 
flowers.  Steeping  the  leaves  in  hot  water,  he  bade 
good-by  to  fear.  He  told  his  brethren  the  secret, 


132 


CHINA’S  STORY 


and  henceforth  holy  men  were  kept  from  nodding 
by  the  cheering  brew. 

In  Japan,  this  saint,  who  first  saw  the  tea-rose 
and  leaf,  is  called  Daruma,  and  is  represented  as 
legless.  He  is  honored  as  the  founder  of  the  Zen 
sect  of  contemplation.  In  red-painted  wood,  squat, 
and  round  as  a pumpkin,  with  terrible,  lidless 
eyes,  his  effigy  serves  as  the  tobacco  shopman’s 
sign  of  trade,  though  he  deserves  a better  fame. 
His  lower  limbs  dropped  off  after  he  had  sat  in 
meditation  during  nine  years. 

Chinese  poets  called  their  new  drink  “froth  of 
the  liquid  jade,”  and  emperors  proffered  cups  of 
it  as  a reward  of  honor  for  eminent  service.  Out 
from  the  Yang-tse  valley,  the  use  of  tea  spread 
abroad,  not  reaching  Japan,  however,  until  A.  D. 
805,  nor  becoming  a common  drink  in  the  islands 
until  the  twelfth  century.  By  slow  evolution,  its 
use  blossomed  into  an  aesthetic  cult  called  cha-yo- 
yu^  or  tea-decoction.  Why,  we  shall  see. 

In  the  beginning  no  one  thought  of  steeping  tea. 
Between  its  early  application  as  a cold  plaster  for 
rheumatism  and  its  modern  use  in  ice-cream  (in 
Japan),  the  art  of  making  tea  had  to  pass  through 
three  stages  requiring  heat,  or  fire. 

In  the  beginning  the  leaves  were  steamed, 
crushed  in  a mortar,  and  made  into  a cake.  Then 
with  rice,  ginger,  salt,  orange-peel,  spices,  milk, 
onions,  or  what  not,  men  boiled  the  tea,  even  as 
the  Mongolians  and  Tibetans  do  to-day,  and  as 


ERA  OF  PRINTING  AND  LITERATURE  133 


was  often  done  at  first  in  Europe.  Indeed  the 
Russians,  and  we  after  them,  still  use  a slice  of 
lemon  in  the  infusion.  This  is  a survival  of  the 
old  custom.  To  this  day  “brick  tea”  is  the  kind 
most  imported  into  the  land  of  the  Czar  and  the 
samovar. 

We  should  all  read  Mr.  Okakura’s  delightful 
work,  “ The  Book  of  Tea,”  in  which  we  are  told 
that  the  poet  Luwuh  of  the  Tang  dynasty,  who  is 
the  tutelary  god  of  the  tea-merchants  in  China, 
wrote  a book  in  three  volumes,  entitled  the  Tea 
Classic,  treating  of  the  history,  nature,  and  prepa- 
ration of  the  herb  and  describing  “ the  twenty-four 
members  of  the  tea  equipage.”  Tea  drinking  pow- 
erfully influenced  the  development  of  the  ceramic 
art  in  China.  Luwuh  considered  blue  as  the  ideal 
color  of  the  teacup.  He  used  cake  tea.  In  the  time 
of  the  Mings,  when  the  steeped  leaves  were  used, 
white  porcelain  was  preferred. 

During  the  Sung  dynasty,  whipped  tea,  or  a 
frothing  liquid  made  by  pouring  boiling  water  on 
powdered  tea  and  churning  it  round  with  a whisk 
of  split  bamboo,  came  into  fashion.  Thus  the 
second  school  of  tea  was  formed. 

After  the  Mongol  invasion,  tea  was  steeped  and 
drunk  in  modern  fashion.  Not  till  late  in  the 
Ming  dynasty  did  Europe  become  acquainted  with 
tea,  and  then  only  according  to  the  one  fashion  of 
infusion,  steeping,  and  decoction.  The  introduc- 
tion of  hot  drinks  had  a tremendous  and  far- 


134 


CHINA’S  STORY 


reaching  influence  on  social  life  in  China,  but 
probably  even  more  upon  table  customs  and  the 
ceramic  art  in  Europe,  where  it  gave  woman  her 
proper  place  at  the  head  of  the  table.  Among  the 
poorer  Chinese,  who  could  not  afford  rich  wine  in 
the  nuptial  cup,  tea  became  the  recognized  drink, 
and  oftentimes  to  this  day,  among  them,  the  only 
marriage  ceremony  consists  in  the  woman’s  mak- 
ing tea  for  the  man  and  proffering  him  the  cup. 

In  the  Far  East,  tea  is  associated  with  philoso- 
phy. As  with  some  other  things  borrowed  from 
the  Orient,  we  took  the  ceramic  part  of  the  gift, 
the  cup’s  cover,  upside  down,  turning  the  lid  into 
a saucer. 


CHAPTER  XII 


china’s  experiment  in  socialism 

After  the  period  of  military  despotism  (a.  d. 
907-960)  China  was  virtually  divided  between 
the  Tartars  of  the  north,  of  whom  the  Kin,  or 
Golden,  was  the  most  famous  tribe,  and  the  Chi- 
nese, whose  imperial  house  or  family  was  the 
Sung  (a.  d.  960-1333),  with  their  capital  at  Kai 
Feng  in  Honan.  The  Sung  dynasty  is  usually 
reckoned  as  the  Sung  (a.  d.  960-1126)  and  the 
Southern  Sung  (a.  d.  1127-1333). 

The  emperor,  Tai  Tsu,  made  it  the  aim  of  his 
life  to  consolidate  the  empire.  He  took  away  from 
the  provincial  officers  the  power  of  life  and  death 
and  centred  them  in  a board  of  punishments  at 
the  capital.  He  made  expeditions  against  the 
Khitans  into  Liao  Tung,  but  without  success.  He 
bestowed  posthumous  honors  on  those  descendants 
of  Confucius  who  had  lived  during  the  previous 
forty-four  generations,  and  exempted  from  taxation 
all  the  future  descendants  of  the  sage,  — a privilege 
which  these  gentlemen,  still  among  the  ablest  men 
in  the  empire,  yet  enjoy.  Beside  other  reforms, 
literature  was  encouraged,  so  that  this  era  is  re- 
membered as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  for  its 
schools  and  education  and  the  number  of  great 


136 


CHINA’S  STORY 


writers,  one  of  them  being  the  standard  historian, 
Sze  Ma  Kwang,  whose  history  of  China  fills  three 
hundred  and  fifty-four  volumes. 

A Chinese  library  differs  greatly  in  appearance 
from  one  of  ours.  We  must  not  think  of  heavy 
octavo  books,  with  stiff  bindings  of  boards,  leather, 
or  cloth.  A volume  in  Chinese  is  made  of  thinner 
and  tougher  bamboo  paper,  and  is  much  smaller 
and  lighter  in  weight  than  the  average  one  in  the 
West.  The  books  lie  flat,  one  upon  another,  piled 
upright,  in  boxes,  and  do  not  stand  on  their 
edges,  as  with  us.  The  binding  being  of  paper,  or 
thin  pasteboard,  the  leaves  are  stitched  at  the 
sides  with  silk  and  the  title  is  marked  in  ink  on 
what  with  us  would  be  the  lower  edge.  Where 
we  end  they  begin,  and  the  reading  is  in  col- 
umns from  top  to  bottom  and  from  right  to  left. 
The  Chinese  call  us  “ the  crab-writing  barba- 
rians.” 

As  most  of  the  interesting  events  of  history,  or 
the  situations  in  Chinese  social  life,  are  painted  on 
porcelain,  one  can  easily  recognize  a scene  in  the 
life  of  a child  who  was  destined  to  grow  up  and 
become  the  famed  historian,  Sze  Ma  Kwang.  When 
several  children  were  playing  together,  Kwang, 
with  his  playmates,  leaned  on  the  rim  of  a large 
porcelain  vessel  in  which  tame  gold-fish  were  kept. 
One  boy  lost  his  balance  and  fell  into  the  water 
among  the  fishes.  The  child  would  have  been 
drowned,  except  for  the  presence  of  mind  of 


CHINA’S  EXPERIMENT  IN  SOCIALISM  137 


Kwang.  The  other  boys,  screaming  with  terror, 
ran  away,  but  Kwang  took  up  a large  stone  and 
smashed  the  vessel  with  it.  Fish,  boy,  and  water  all 
rushed  out.  The  jar  was  spoiled,  but  the  boy  was 
saved. 

Proverbs  and  bright-colored  pictures,  on  many 
a cup,  plate,  saucer,  and  vase,  keep  alive  the  mem- 
ory of  the  boy  Kwang.  As  a man  he  became  a great 
statesman.  He  opposed  strenuously  the  doctrines 
of  a famous  populist,  or  socialistic  agitator,  Wang 
(1021-1086  A.  D.),  whose  schemes  of  reform  in- 
cluded new  methods  of  taxation  and  tenure  of 
land,  besides  radical  notions  as  to  economics  and 
philosophy  which  would  make  paternalism  the 
form  of  government.  The  changes  proposed  were 
so  far-reaching  that  wise  men  called  them  revolu- 
tionary. Yet  the  populace,  for  a while,  hailed 
Wang  as  the  savior  of  society. 

Even  in  this  era,  A.  D.  1068,  rich  men  controlled 
the  market,  bought  from  the  poor  their  crops,  and 
sold  at  the  highest  rate  possible,  which  was  often 
exorbitant.  The  emperor  backed  the  agitator  when 
he  put  into  practice  his  new  ideas.  Wang  pro- 
posed that  the  taxes  should  be  paid  in  produce 
and  that  the  government  should  purchase  the  sur- 
plus, to  be  distributed  according  to  the  demand 
and  sold  at  a reasonable  rate  in  different  parts  of 
the  empire.  In  a word,  the  commerce  of  the  coun- 
try was  to  be  wholly  a state  affair.  That  the  state 
should  advance  money  to  the  farmers,  at  a very 


138 


CHINA’S  STORY 


low  rate  of  interest  and  to  be  repaid  after  the 
harvest,  was  another  part  of  the  scheme. 

In  the  enrollment  of  the  militia,  it  was  proposed 
to  divide  the  whole  empire  into  groups  of  ten, 
fifty,  and  five  hundred  families  under  the  control 
of  graded  officers.  Every  family  with  more  than 
one  son  was  to  furnish  a soldier.  In  time  of  peace, 
they  were  to  follow  their  ordinary  business,  but 
when  danger  threatened  they  were  to  assemble  on 
call. 

Incomes  were  to  be  taxed  to  build  public  works. 
Instead  of  compulsory  labor,  each  family  was  to 
be  assessed  according  to  its  income.  The  same  dif- 
ficulty was  experienced  then  as  at  the  present  time 
in  finding  out  just  what  the  income  was.  Another 
enterprise  was  to  publish  the  classics  at  public 
expense,  with  Wang’s  peculiar  ideas  as  commen- 
tary. 

This  great  experiment  in  socialism,  despite  vio- 
lent opposition,  was  tried ; but  the  result  was  total 
failure.  Customs  could  be  changed,  but  not  human 
nature.  Dishonest  and  rapacious  men  took  advan- 
tage of  their  position  and  robbed  the  people,  so 
that,  instead  of  the  expected  benefits,  the  general 
poverty  and  distress  were  increased. 

This  attempt  at  populism  led  the  wisest  men, 
especially  the  two  brothers  Cheng  (1032-1111 
A.  D.),  to  re-read  the  classics  and  to  think  long 
and  deeply,  not  only  on  the  nature  of  man  and 
Heaven  (or  God),  but  also  on  the  subjects  of  pro- 


CHINA’S  EXPERIMENT  IN  SOCIALISM  139 


perty  and  taxes,  rights  and  duties,  and  on  gov- 
ernment and  social  organizations  generally.  The 
result,  after  a hundred  years  of  thought  and  dis- 
cussion, was  the  complete  restatement  of  the  Con- 
fucian  system,  by  Chu  Hi,  of  whom  we  shall  tell. 

By  this  time  also,  when  Normans  and  Saxons 
in  England  were  blending  to  form  the  English 
people,  Taoism  and  especially  Buddhism  in  China 
had  greatly  influenced  the  minds  of  men,  so  that 
scholars,  who  began  the  long  and  hard  thinking 
necessary  for  clearness  and  re  - statement,  had 
abundant  material  upon  which  to  work.  The  most 
eminent  of  all  the  philosophers  was  Chu  Hi  (1130- 
1200).  He  took  his  second  degree  at  the  literary 
examination  before  reaching  his  twentieth  year. 
Being  appointed  a mandarin,  he  first  studied  for 
some  years  the  systems  of  Buddha  and  Lao  Tsze, 
and  then  mastered  the  writings,  not  only  of  Con- 
fucius and  Mencius,  but  also  of  the  famous  schol- 
ars, critics,  and  commentators  who  for  a century 
had  been  reexamining  the  doctrines  of  Confucius 
in  the  light  of  socialistic  and  other  theories  of  the 
times. 

Chu  Hi’s  renown  was  so  great  that  the  emperor 
appointed  him  adviser  at  the  court,  and  then  gov- 
ernor of  Nanking.  Continuing  his  studies,  he  vin- 
dicated and  re-stated  the  orthodox  doctrine  handed 
down  from  the  past,  but  with  additions  ranging 
out  into  all  departments  of  human  thought.  Un- 
til the  twentieth  century  Chu  Hi’s  commentaries  on 


140 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  classical  writings  formed  the  aids  to  reflection, 
the  strategic  points  of  metaphysical  discussion, 
and  the  recognized  standard  of  what  gentlemen  in 
eastern  Asia  ought  to  believe.  Chu  Hi’s  teachings 
so  developed  Confucianism,  that  from  being  merely 
a system  of  rules  and  observances  it  became  both 
a philosophy  and  a creed  for  centuries. 

We  foreigners  think  of  the  three  old  religions 
of  China  as  separate  in  idea  and  history.  To  the 
average  Chinese,  in  every-day  life,  they  are  one. 
The  ancestral  cult  teaches  manners  and  morals. 
Buddhism,  the  Aryan  faith  from  India,  gives  hope 
of  the  hereafter.  Taoism  is  a system  of  philosophy 
for  the  thinkers  and  of  superstition  to  the  popu- 
lace. In  reality,  though  there  are  three  religions 
there  is  no  God.  In  the  age  of  Sung  (a.  d.  960- 
1333)  religion,  literature,  industry,  and  commerce 
were  greatly  developed  under  the  intellectual 
stimulus  and  blending  of  ideas  so  notable  in  this 
tolerant  era.  Buddhism  henceforth  was  less  the 
faith  of  the  educated  than  of  the  learned,  while 
Confucianism,  greatly  affected  by  the  thought  of 
India,  took  on  the  form  of  a creed  as  well  as  a 
ritual  of  worship  and  rule  of  conduct.  In  Taoism 
the  development  was  in  the  line  of  outward  organ- 
ization. 

Taoists,  as  we  have  seen,  are  very  “ high  church  ” 
in  their  notions,  and  their  doctrine  of  succession  is 
held  to  almost  as  rigidly  as  in  Buddhist,  Mahom- 
etan, or  Christian  countries.  Chang  Tao-ling,  born 


CHINA’S  EXPERIMENT  IN  SOCIALISM  141 


A.  D.  34,  turned  aside  from  royalty’s  favors  and 
lived  in  the  high  mountains,  cultivating  alchemy, 
purity,  and  mental  abstraction.  Receiving  instruc- 
tion from  a book  supernaturally  received  from 
Lao  Tsze  himself,  he  found  the  elixir  of  life  and 
confided  the  secret  to  his  son.  Then,  at  the  age 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three,  he  compounded 
and  swallowed  a draught  of  it,  and  ascended  to 
the  heavens  to  enjoy  the  bliss  of  immortality.  At 
this  point  legend  turns  into  history.  His  descend- 
ants were  in  1016  endowed  with  land  and  later 
honored  by  the  Mongol  emperors.  To  this  day 
the  family  claim  the  headship  of  the  Taoist  sect. 
Like  the  Lamas  of  Tibet,  the  succession  is  per- 
petuated by  the  transmigration  of  the  soul  of  each 
successor  of  Chang  Tao-ling  into  the  body  of  some 
infant  or  child  of  the  family,  whose  heirship  is 
supernaturally  revealed  as  soon  as  the  miracle 
is  effected. 

Besides  being  the  era  when  printed  books  were 
put  into  the  hands  of  school  children  for  their  use 
in  the  study  of  the  classics,  the  Sung  period  was 
famous  for  its  poetry  and  imaginative  literature. 
In  the  beginning,  the  far-off  ancestors,  the  pre- 
historic people  of  China,  were  little  better  than 
simple  savages,  but  when  they  came  to  conscious- 
ness of  themselves,  and  were  filled  with  the  won- 
der of  life,  they  began  to  think  of  their  past.  Rea- 
soning upon  this,  they  inquired  as  to  their  origins. 
Then  men  with  active  imagination  took  to  the 


142 


CHINA’S  STORY 


making  of  mythology  and  the  formulating  of  tra- 
ditions. Skillful  penmen  set  down  the  manufac- 
tured myths  in  attractive  literary  form,  while  with 
songs  and  dances,  art  and  commemorative  customs, 
these  traditions  became  articles  of  the  national 
faith.  On  the  basis  of  these  primitive  ideas,  sym- 
bols, animals,  signs,  and  numerical  groups  have 
developed  during  forty  centuries  the  poetry,  phi- 
losophy, literature,  romance,  drama,  sculpture,  and 
pictured  representations  that  make  the  Chinese 
seem  so  peculiar  to  us.  In  a word,  there  was  during 
the  Sung  period  such  an  outburst  of  literary  splen- 
dor that  this  is  often  called  the  Augustan  age,  or 
the  Elizabethan  era  of  Chinese  literature.  The 
larger  part  of  the  mythology,  poetry,  and  stand- 
ard literature,  apart  from  the  ancient  classics,  dates 
from  this  time. 

Of  one  of  the  most  famous  poets,  Su  Tang  Po, 
it  was  written  that  “ under  his  hands,  the  language 
of  which  China  is  so  proud  may  be  said  to  have 
reached  perfection  of  finish,  of  art  concealed.” 
One  of  his  poems,  called  “ The  Song  of  the 
Cranes,”  has  been  thus  rendered  into  English, 
though  “ translation  is  treachery.” 

“ Away  ! Away  ! My  birds  fly  westward  now, 

To  wheel  on  high  and  gaze  on  all  below  ; 

To  swoop  together,  pinions  closed,  to  earth; 

To  soar  aloft  once  more  among  the  clouds; 

To  wander  all  day  long  in  sedgy  vale, 

To  gather  duckweed  in  the  stony  marsh. 


CHINA’S  EXPERIMENT  IN  SOCIALISM  143 


Come  back  ! Come  back  ! Beneath  the  lengthening  shades^ 
Your  serge-clad  master  stands,  guitar  in  hand. 

’T  is  he  that  feeds  you  from  his  slender  store, 

Come  back  ! Come  back  ! Nor  linger  in  the  west.” 

Progress  was  not  confined  to  the  domain  of  the 
intellect.  Industry,  enterprise,  trade,  and  com- 
merce expanded.  There  were  now  four  well-known 
and  well-traveled  routes  westward  to  India  and 
the  Mahometan  countries  of  Asia,  while  by  sea, 
Hindoo,  Javanese,  and  Arab  fleets  of  trading- 
ships  made  the  ocean  less  lonely.  The  ship’s  com- 
pass came  into  general  use.  Banks  and  cash-shops 
were  numerous  at  the  seaports.  China  has  always 
had  a currency  of  perforated  copper,  brass,  and 
iron  “ cash  ” strung  on  strings,  and  paper  money, 
but  no  silver  or  gold  coinage.  The  Arabs  proba- 
bly taught  the  idea  of  using  silver  by  weight,  and 
Sycee  or  “ shoe  ” silver,  looking  like  little  white 
trays  or  boats,  passes  as  money.  In  keeping  ac- 
counts, the  terms  taels,  mace,  candarin,  and  li, 
according  to  the  decimal  system,  are  used,  but 
there  are  no  coins  corresponding  to  these  names, 
which  are  theoretical,  like  the  English  “ guinea.” 

The  size  of  the  bank  notes  is  peculiar,  12x8 
inches,  and  the  reading  matter  is  very  interesting. 
On  one  of  these  under  the  Ming  dynasty  and  of 
the  date  A.  D.  1399,  it  is  stated  that  this  note  is 
current  as  money  everywhere  in  China  (all  under 
Heaven),  and  that  counterfeiters  will  be  beheaded. 

With  the  progress  of  civilization,  the  lot  of  the 


144 


CHINA’S  STORY 


average  woman  became  less  one  of  outdoor  toil 
and  more  of  indoor  work  and  accomplishments. 
In  mythology,  in  fairy  lore,  and  in  actual  history, 
woman  is  ever  the  weaver  and  spinster.  The  star 
maiden  in  the  Milky  Way,  or  River  of  Heaven, 
works  at  her  loom.  On  earth  it  is  the  wife  of  the 
Heavenly  Emperor  who  rears  silkworms  and 
teaches  the  wearing  of  silk.  In  the  feudal  age,  we 
read  of  flax  and  hemp  and  see  the  women  steeping 
the  stalks  in  the  castle  moats.  Not,  however, 
until  the  Sung  era  do  we  hear  of  Chinese  women 
weaving  into  cloth  the  white  blossom  of  the  cotton 
plant,  which  is  probably  the  gift  of  the  Semitic 
world. 

It  was  a great  day  for  China  when  cotton  was 
brought  from  the  West.  It  was  not  cultivated  in 
China  until  the  time  of  the  Sung  dynasty.  Even 
then  the  Chinese  hemp  and  silk  growers  (just  like 
the  linen  weavers  of  England  in  1721,  when  people 
were  fined  for  wearing  muslin)  were  so  opposed  to 
it  that  it  was  not  until  Mongol  times  that  the  plant 
was  common  throughout  the  empire.  It  is  sown 
in  June  and  gathered  in  October.  After  Sung 
times,  instead  of  grass  and  hemp  cloth  for  the 
poor  and  silk  for  the  rich,  the  common  people 
could  have  clothes  of  muslin,  made  thin  for  sum- 
mer and  by  padding  rendered  suitable  for  winter. 
The  spinning-wheel  and  loom  now  took  their  places 
in  the  houses  of  the  peasantry,  and  most  garments 
were  home-made. 


WINTER  IN  NORTH  CHINA 


Hi 


CHINA’S  EXPERIMENT  IN  SOCIALISM  145 


In  a country  where  forestry  was  unknown  and 
fuel  dear,  so  that  most  people  had  to  do  without 
fire  in  their  houses  during  the  time  of  snow  and 
ice,  the  Chinese  kept  warm  by  putting  on  more 
clothes.  Thus  they  would  describe  the  temperature 
by  saying  it  was  “ two  coats  cold,”  “ three  coats 
cold,”  etc.  The  day  on  which  they  “ took  off  cot- 
ton,” that  is,  removed  their  padded  or  thickly  lined 
garments  for  lighter  wear,  formed  a point  in  the 
calendar.  Out  of  cotton  the  Chinese  weave  many 
fabrics,  such  as  nankeen,  which  was  formerly  ex- 
ported. Now  it  is  all  used  at  home,  and  the  Chi- 
nese import  both  raw  cotton  and  cotton  cloth  to 
the  value  of  millions.  Most  of  their  native  textiles 
are  dyed  with  indigo,  so  that  China  has  been  called 
the  Land  of  the  Blue  Gown.  With  steam  mills 
equipped  with  the  latest  and  best  machinery,  cot- 
ton cloth  is  woven  for  the  clothing  of  millions. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


CHINA  INVADED  BY  THE  MONGOLS 

The  great  northern  region  beyond  the  Chinese 
wall  is  the  nursery  of  many  nations.  These  built 
up  no  civilizations  of  their  own.  Issuing  forth, 
from  time  to  time,  as  clouds  of  horsemen  and  con- 
quering hordes,  they  seemed,  while  ravaging  the 
abodes  of  luxury,  to  be  only  destroyers.  Yet  these 
emigrant  peoples  infused  fresh  blood  into  old  com- 
munities. Bringing  in  new  ideas  of  freedom  and 
toleration,  they  added  new  vigor  to  humanity. 

Looking  from  the  point  of  view  of  A.  D.  1000, 
one  could  hardly  believe  that,  out  of  this  mysteri- 
ous north,  despite  the  many  and  long  struggles  of 
the  Chinese  with  Tartar  tribes,  there  would  emerge 
another  body  of  men  that  should  completely  sub- 
due not  only  China,  but  nearly  all  Asia  and  a 
large  part  of  Europe. 

We  have  heard  of  the  Kin  tribe  of  Tartars 
before.  In  1125,  after  overcoming  their  former 
rulers,  they  made  themselves  independent.  Their 
chief  took  the  title  of  Grand  Khan  and  founded 
a dynasty  named  the  Kin,  or  Golden.  In  battle 
they  put  in  the  forefront  their  heaviest  men  and 
horses,  clad  in  the  stoutest  armor,  the  warriors  be- 
ing armed  with  pikes  for  charging  and  short  swords 


CHINA  INVADED  BY  THE  MONGOLS  147 


for  close  combat.  In  each  company  of  fifty,  twenty 
soldiers  were  at  the  front,  while  thirty  more  lightly 
armed  men  were  kept  in  the  rear,  until  the  heav- 
ily equipped  warriors  had  made  their  attack.  Then 
the  light  cavalry  rushed  forward,  shot  their  arrows, 
threw  their  javelins,  and  rode  away  swiftly,  mak- 
ing way  for  fresh  reinforcements.  This  method, 
repeated  several  times,  completely  broke  up  the 
ranks  of  the  opponents  by  throwing  their  soldiers 
into  confusion.  Then  the  whole  body  of  Tartars 
charged,  plying  pike  and  sword.  They  usually  won 
by  the  rout  and  massacre  of  their  enemies. 

Tempted  south  by  the  love  of  conquest  and  the 
riches  of  the  empire,  they  captured  in  A.  D.  1125 
the  capital  Kai  Feng.  They  forced  the  Chinese 
to  promise  an  indemnity  of  five  million  ounces  of 
gold,  fifty  million  ounces  of  silver,  ten  thousand 
oxen,  ten  thousand  horses,  and  one  million  pieces 
of  silk,  to  recognize  the  victor’s  title  of  Khan,  or 
emperor,  to  cede  a large  part  of  northern  China, 
and  to  give  up  the  emperor’s  brother  as  a hostage. 

No  sooner  had  these  northern  horsemen  turned 
their  backs  than  the  Chinese,  repenting  of  their 
promise,  began  to  raise  an  army  to  resist  the  Kins. 
When  they  heard  of  this,  the  northern  hordes 
quickly  reappeared  and  increased  the  punishment 
of  the  Chinese.  They  demanded  more  land  and 
provinces,  carried  the  imperial  family  away  into 
captivity,  compelled  the  promise  of  one  hundred 
thousand  ounces  of  gold,  two  hundred  thousand 


148 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ounces  of  silver,  and  ten  million  pieces  of  silk. 
We  do  not  know  that  the  promise  of  such  an 
enormous  indemnity  was  fulfilled.  Worse  than  all, 
they  appointed  one  of  their  own  nominees  to  rule 
over  the  Chinese  Empire,  but  as  their  own  vassal. 

All  the  northern  provinces  were  now  under  the 
control  of  the  Kin  Tartars,  who,  how'ever,  were 
unable  to  complete  their  conquest  of  that  part  of 
China  south  of  the  Yellow  River,  for  the  Chinese 
fought  with  the  energy  of  despair.  The  Southern 
Sung  (1127-1333),  as  their  dynasty  was  called, 
made  a new  seat  of  government  at  Nanking. 

The  word  for  capital  is  “ king,”  or  first  city ; Nan- 
king means  southern  capital  and  Peking  northern 
capital.  This  Icing^  pronounced  kio  in  Japanese,  is 
the  kio  in  Tokio  and  Kioto.  The  word  nankeen, 
or  Chinese  cloth,  for  summer  wear,  is  only  another 
form  of  Nanking,  where  much  of  it  was  formerly 
made. 

Brave  and  skillful  generals  led  the  southerners 
in  the  struggle,  which  was  now  for  the  rich  pro- 
vince of  Honan,  whose  northern  boundary  is  the 
great,  wide  Yellow  River.  This,  like  the  Rhine  in 
Roman  days,  was  the  dividing  line  between  civ- 
ilization and  northern  barbarism.  The  Tartars, 
beinof  from  the  desert  and  unaccustomed  to  navi- 
<rate  or  to  figfht  on  w^ater,  were  unable  to  cross  this 
river,  while  many  of  the  Chinese  were  adroit  boat- 
men and  could  fifrht  on  deck.  Hence  the  river  re- 
muined  a barrier  against  further  invasion.  Had 


CHINA  INVADED  BY  THE  MONGOLS  149 


the  emperor  possessed  more  courage,  he  might 
have  driven  the  Tartars  out  of  China.  The  last 
words  of  one  of  his  generals  were,  “Cross  the 
river,”  meaning  that  the  emperor  should  abandon 
Nanking  and  advance  northward. 

The  Tartars  were  able  to  make  even  more  pro- 
gress on  their  right  wing.  They  passed  into  Shan- 
tung, which  means  “ the  mountains  east,”  and 
devastated  the  rich  country.  On  land  these  war- 
riors in  the  saddle  usually  beat  the  Chinese,  but 
on  water  they  were  themselves  badly  handled. 
Now  these  Kin  Tartars  were  to  find  an  enemy  in 
their  rear  also,  that  was  to  conquer  them  and  then 
advance  to  the  conquest  of  the  whole  empire.  At 
these  we  shall  glance. 

Near  the  head  waters  of  the  Amoor  River,  south- 
east of  Lake  Baikal,  lived  a tribe  of  horsemen 
whose  ensign  was  an  ox-tail.  They  called  them- 
selves Brave  Men,  or  Mongols.  Other  tribes  joined 
their  confederacy  until,  in  1135,  filled  with  the 
lust  of  conquest,  they  began  fighting  with  the  Kin 
Tartars.  Their  chief,  Kabul,  assumed  the  title 
Grand  Khan.  Plis  banner  was  a cluster  of  ox- 
tails. 

About  1162  there  was  born  the  great  hero 
known  in  history  as  Genghis  Khan.  It  is  said  that 
when  thirteen  years  old,  at  his  mother’s  prompt- 
ing, this  son  of  Kabul  became  head  of  the  Mon- 
gols. Genghis  means  the  Greatest  of  the  Great. 
He  moved  with  a mighty  host  southward  and  be- 


150 


CHINA’S  STORY 


yond  the  Great  Wall,  occupying  several  of  the 
northern  provinces.  In  1213  he  despatched  three 
great  expeditions  eastward,  all  of  which  were  suc- 
cessful. The  ox-tail  banner  was  carried  to  the  sea 
near  the  modern  Wei  Hai  Wei. 

Some  Japanese  scholars  claim  that  Yezukai,  or 
Genghis  Khan,  was  no  other  than  the  Japanese 
field-marshal  and  hero,  Yoshitsun^,  whose  name  in 
Chinese  is  Gengi  K^,  and  who  fled  across  the 
Yezo  Kai,  or  northern  sea  of  Tartary.  Some  Chi- 
nese authors  also  accept  this  plausible  theory.  In 
1905  a Japanese  officer  found  at  Mukden  the 
reputed  tomb  of  Yoshitsund. 

When  this  great  wave  of  humanity  on  horse- 
back moved  toward  the  setting  sun  and  over  the 
Himalaya  Mountains,  it  struck  Russia  during  the 
time  of  her  feudal  system.  There  was  then  no 
national  unity,  but  many  semi-independent  states 
existed,  nominally  under  a Czar,  but  almost  always 
at  war  with  one  another.  At  this  time  they  were 
much  weakened  in  resources.  When  the  Musco- 
vites set  their  hastily  collected  forces  in  battle 
against  the  Mongols,  their  rout  was  rapid  and 
complete,  and  the  Czar’s  empire  was  put  under 
tribute. 

A Mongol,  who  lived  in  the  saddle,  horse  and 
man  seeming  like  one  animal,  hated  cities  and 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  roofs  or  walls. 
Coming  out  of  the  broad  steppes  and  living  con- 
tinually in  the  open  air,  the  horsemen  felt  as  if 


CHINA  INVADED  BY  THE  MONGOLS  151 


they  would  be  stifled  within  doors,  and  they  feared 
any  and  every  high  structure.  So  they  leveled 
to  the  ground  the  Russian  towns  and  villages, 
churches  and  farmhouses,  making  large  areas  of 
the  country  a waste. 

The  son  of  Genghis  Khan,  named  Ogotai,  con- 
tinued the  work  begun  by  his  father.  He  com- 
pletely subdued  the  Kin  Tartars  and  ended  their 
dynasty  of  nine  emperors,  which  had  ruled  half 
of  the  Chinese  Empire  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
years.  Then  moving  with  a still  larger  army  into 
Europe,  he  penetrated  to  the  very  heart  of  the  con- 
tinent, destroying  Moscow,  Kief,  and  other  Russian 
cities,  committing  terrible  atrocities  and  slaughter- 
ing the  inhabitants  almost  as  numerously  as  the 
Romans  did  our  ancestors  in  Gaul  and  Germany. 
The  Mongols  invaded  Hungary  and  Poland,  razing 
Pesth,  Cracow,  and  other  cities  to  the  ground,  but 
when  in  Silesia,  hearing,  in  1241,  that  Ogotai  was 
dead,  the  Mongol  generals  returned  with  their 
hordes  to  the  capital  at  Karakorum. 

At  the  same  time  the  Pope  of  Rome  sent  two 
envoys,  Carpini  and  Benedict,  with  a letter  urging 
upon  Ogotai’s  successor  more  humanity  in  war,  to 
which  the  Mongol  ruler  civilly  replied.  Return- 
ing, these  two  scholars  brought  to  medieval  Europe 
the  first  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  as  being  a na- 
tion more  highly  civilized  than  any  at  that  time 
existing  in  Europe.  The  ruins  of  the  Mongol  cap- 
ital still  litter  the  ground  near  the  Orkhan  River. 


152 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Meanwhile,  in  southern  China,  the  Sung  Em- 
peror, in  order  to  drive  out  the  Kin  Tartars,  made 
alliance  with  the  Mongols.  The  allies  succeeded, 
but  the  old  story  of  the  badger  inviting  the  por- 
cupine into  his  hole  was  retold.  After  quarreling 
over  the  spoils,  the  Chinese  attempted  again  to 
occupy  the  province  of  Honan,  but  the  Mongols 
ordered  them  out.  The  latter  soon  found  what 
kind  of  allies  they  had  invited  to  aid  them.  When 
Mangu  became  Khan  in  1253,  he  and  his  brother 
Kublai  planned  the  complete  conquest  of  China. 
Kublai,  who  was  elected  Grand  Khan  on  the 
death  of  his  brother,  fixed  his  capital  at  or  near 
the  modern  Peking.  About  Cambulac,  on  the  city 
of  the  Khan,  some  of  us  have  heard  through  the 
poetry  of  Coleridge. 

The  Chinese  were  still  defiant,  but  the  Mongols, 
being  as  ready  to  adopt  modern  improvements  as 
are  the  Japanese,  employed  foreign  experts,  teach- 
ers, and  advisers  with  new  machinery  and  methods. 
To  the  siege  of  cities  they  brought  engines  of  war 
made  in  Persia,  which  could  throw  stones  and  logs 
of  wood  weighing  over  a hundred  pounds.  Using 
these  catapults,  the  General  Bayan  captured  city 
after  city,  until  finally  the  ox-tail  banners  were 
planted  on  the  seashore  below  Canton.  After  fifty 
years  of  battle  and  warfare,  in  which  both  the 
courage  and  the  tenacity  of  the  Chinese  were 
conspicuous,  the  Mongol  conquest  of  China  was 
completed  and  the  Yuan,  or  Original,  dynasty  was 


CHINA  INVADED  BY  THE  MONGOLS  153 


founded.  Like  our  barbarian  ancestors,  who  de- 
stroyed the  Komau  Empire  and  occupied  its  area, 
the  Mongol  Tartars  were  now  about  to  be  power- 
fully influenced  by  the  civilization  they  had  appar- 
ently destroyed.  Though  Kublai  was  not  actually 
seated  on  the  throne  of  China  until  1260,  the  Yuan 
dynasty  is  reckoned  as  lasting  from  a.  d.  1206 
to  1333. 

There  was  yet  much  land  to  be  occupied  to  the 
east  and  south,  so  Kublai  looked  across  the  sea  to 
Japan.  The  Japanese  sent  back  the  envoys  from 
Kublai  Khan  with  an  answer  of  defiance.  When 
others  came  later,  their  heads  were  cut  ofP.  The 
Koreans  were  quickly  won  over.  Then,  with  a 
combined  fleet  made  up  from  the  three  peoples, 
Mongols,  Chinese,  and  Koreans,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  invade  Japan. 

When  the  Mongol  armada,  equipped  with  war- 
machines  and  even  cannon  which  the  Italian  Polos 
had  taught  the  Mongols  to  make,  arrived  off 
Kiushiu,  it  was  scattered  by  tempests.  The  Mon- 
gol cavalry  was  repulsed  on  land  by  archery  of 
the  Japanese.  Then  the  latter,  venturing  out  in 
their  little  boats  with  swords  and  grappling-irons, 
leaped  on  the  big  ships  and  fought  the  Mongols 
hand  to  hand.  As  usual,  the  Tartars  failed  in  bat- 
tles on  the  water.  The  lives  of  the  Koreans  and 
Chinese  who  surrendered  were  spared. 

To  this  day  in  Japan  the  civil  ruler  and  the  cap- 
tains who  defeated  the  Mongols  enjoy  posthumous 


154 


CHINA’S  STORY 


honors.  After  the  destruction  of  the  Russian  ar- 
mada, or  Baltic  fleet,  by  Admiral  Togo  in  1905, 
very  near  the  place  where  the  Mongol  armada 
came  to  its  end,  the  victors  on  land  and  sea,  headed 
by  the  Mikado,  were  present  at  a great  celebra- 
tion in  honor  of  Ho  jo,  the  governor  who  roused 
the  nation  to  resist  the  invaders  of  A.  D.  1281. 

Something  like  the  same  lack  of  success  befell 
the  Mongols  when  they  invaded  Annam  and  at- 
tempted Cambodia.  They  found  that  the  work  of 
war  in  steaming  bamboo  jungles  and  teak  forests, 
or  on  the  plains  under  the  almost  vertical  rays  of 
the  sun,  was  not  so  easy  as  fighting  on  the  north- 
ern plains  and  frozen  rivers.  They  were  so  greatly 
weakened  by  heat  and  sickness  that  they  retired 
from  Cambodia  and  left  Annam  a semi-independent 
state.  All  this  region  of  peninsular  Asia  is  popu- 
larly known  as  Cochin  China.  It  is  interesting  as 
the  original  home  of  our  barnyard  fowls,  the  cock 
and  hen. 

It  was  not  necessarily  the  plan  of  the  Mongol 
Emperor  to  make  war  upon  all  nations,  but  those 
near  the  frontiers,  or  even  within  reach,  were 
expected  to  pay  tribute  and  acknowledge  them- 
selves vassals  of  the  great  Khan.  If  they  did  not, 
they  were  invaded  and  subjugated.  In  the  case  of 
Burma,  after  the  first  refusal,  the  usual  invasion 
was  made.  This  time  the  Mongol  veterans  found 
a new  war  animal.  Elephants  charged  on  them, 
overwhelming  both  men  and  horses,  while  the 


CHINA  INVADED  BY  THE  MONGOLS  155 


Burmans  discharged  their  darts  and  arrows  with 
skill  and  effect.  The  Mongols  were  driven  back 
and  their  tactics  made  worthless.  So  they  tried  a 
new  plan  by  bringing  forward  their  most  skilled 
archers,  who  aimed  at  the  eyes,  trunks,  and  other 
tender  parts  of  the  big  brutes.  These,  maddened 
and  unmanageable,  carried  confusion  into  the  ranks 
of  the  Burmans.  Then  charging  with  their  horse- 
men, the  Mongols  won  victory  and  Burma  be- 
came a vassal  state. 

Meanwhile  the  great  empire  kept  expanding  un- 
til it  was  the  largest  in  area  and  population  known 
in  history,  stretching  as  it  did  from  the  Black  to 
the  Yellow  Sea  and  from  the  steppes  of  Mongolia 
to  the  Indian  Ocean,  within  which  space  was  a 
vast  variety  of  nations,  tribes,  and  peoples. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


WHAT  THE  MONGOLS  DID  FOR  CHINA 

In  1294  the  great  Khan  died,  and  the  Japa- 
nese proverb,  “ There  is  no  seed  to  the  great 
general,”  was  illustrated. 

By  her  wonderful  social  system,  China  is  able 
to  absorb  all  affluents,  “ salting  all  the  water  that 
flows  into  it.”  Gradually  the  Mongols  came  under 
the  influence  of  Chinese  civilization,  with  its  com- 
fort, luxury,  and  culture.  Like  other  tribes,  be- 
fore and  since,  the  Mongol  invaders  were  ab- 
sorbed in  the  Family  of  the  Hundred  Names. 
As  a distinct  people,  they  disappeared  in  the 
Chinese  mass,  like  a lump  of  lead  in  the  melting- 
pot. 

Kublai  was  succeeded  in  1295  by  Tamur.  Now, 
instead  of  exciting  campaigns  and  thrilling  news, 
there  seemed  to  come  a succession  of  floods,  fam- 
ines, and  earthquakes.  Lao  Tsze  had  taught  that 
full  stomachs  made  government  easy.  Hunger 
creates  political  trouble.  The  people,  famine- 
stricken,  poor,  and  discontented,  developed  a re- 
bellious spirit.  In  this  era  sprang  up  those  patri- 
otic secret  societies  which  have  ever  since  been  so 
numerous  in  China,  inciting  rebellion  and  stirring 
up  trouble.  The  White  Lily  Society  is  the  most 


MONGOL  ENCAMPMENT 


WHAT  THE  MONGOLS  DID  FOR  CHINA  157 


famous,  and  that  of  the  Boxers  the  most  familiar 
to  us.  Their  objects  are  for  the  most  part  politi- 
cal, and  usually  anti-dynastic.  In  this  era  they 
were  anti-Mongol.  With  the  idea  of  “China  for 
the  Chinese,”  they  lived  in  hope  of  driving  out 
their  conquerors  and  bringing  in  a native  line  of 
rulers. 

These  secret  societies  soon  became  open  bands 
of  rebels,  in  one  of  which  was  a patriotic  priest,  who 
left  the  monastery  to  become  a leader.  He  showed 
rare  qualities  as  a fighter  and  tactician,  and  under 
his  leadership  Nanking  was  captured.  The  fall  of 
the  Mongol  dynasty  was  now  certain. 

In  the  north,  not  only  were  fresh  tribes  men- 
acing the  frontier  and  advancing  on  Peking,  but 
the  Mongols  themselves  were  quarreling  over  the 
choice  of  an  heir  to  the  throne.  It  mattered  little, 
for  when  the  rebels  captured  Kai  Feng,  the  leader 
pronounced  himself  emperor  and  gave  the  name 
of  Ming,  or  Bright,  to  the  new  dynasty  now 
founded.  Peking  was  taken.  The  last  Mongol 
Emperor  fled  to  his  ancestral  home  in  Mongolia. 
The  Yuan  dynasty  passed  out  of  history. 

It  has  been  the  general  fashion  among  Euro- 
pean writers  to  brand  the  Mongols  as  utterly 
brutal  savages,  before  whose  advent  civilization 
melted  away,  and  the  land  became  a desert.  No 
adjective  seems  sufficiently  black  for  them.  Even 
Japanese  authors  mourn  that  the  Mongols  rav- 
aged the  Buddha-garden  and  destroyed  the  spirit* 


158 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ual  unity  of  Asia.  It  is  evident  that  nearly  all 
Western  people  get  their  notions  about  the  Mon- 
gols not  wholly  from  true  history,  but  rather  from 
folk-lore,  romances,  and  fairy-tales,  the  nightmare 
fears  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  fantastic  legends 
of  the  monks.  Yet  a similar  process  of  descrip- 
tion would  lower  our  estimate  of  other  races,  who 
are  highly  praised,  but  who,  like  Assyrians,  Ro- 
mans, Chinese,  British,  Russians,  and  Americans, 
have  nearly  annihilated  native  tribes  and  shed 
seas  of  blood.  Compared  with  other  conquerors, 
from  the  dawn  of  history  to  this  century,  Genghis 
need  not  be  wholly  ashamed.  In  justice,  we  must 
turn  to  inquire  what  and  who  the  Mongols  were, 
and  what  results  followed  their  conquest  of  China 
and  part  of  Europe. 

We  have  a wonderful  picture  of  Cathay,  or 
of  Mongolian  China,  in  Marco  Polo’s  book.  With 
his  uncles  he  traveled  and  traded  in  Kublai’s 
empire,  and  held  office  under  the  great  Khan 
during  many  years.  He  told  Europe  about  J apan, 
giving  information  which  Columbus  sought  to 
verify,  for  he  sailed  westward  over  the  Sea  of 
Darkness,  with  the  idea  of  finding,  not  America, 
of  which  he  knew  nothing,  but  Nippon  and 
Cathay. 

Polo’s  writings  touched  the  imagination  of 
Europe,  helping  mightily  to  stimulate  discovery 
and  to  unveil  the  continent  of  America.  For  over 
a century  after  Columbus,  navigators  sailed  west- 


WHAT  THE  MONGOLS  DID  FOR  CHINA  159 


ward  to  find  China,  or  sought  a passage  north  of 
America  or  east  of  Spitzbergen.  While  the  coast- 
line of  our  continent  was  not  yet  unveiled,  savage 
America  was  associated  only  with  fish,  furs,  gold, 
or  things  curious.  It  was  considered  rather  as  an 
obstacle  in  the  quest  for  China,  which  Captain 
John  Smith,  Henry  Hudson,  and  many  others 
were  bent  on  finding.  Only  gradually  was  Amer- 
ica known  as  a continent  which  in  itself  was  a 
source  of  wealth. 

From  Marco  Polo,  who  traveled  from  Venice  to 
China  and  lived  nearly  twenty  years  in  the  em- 
pire, we  learn  of  the  high  state  of  prosperity  to 
which  China  attained  under  the  Mongols,  and 
what  broad  and  liberal  ideas  the  conquerors  pos- 
sessed and  welcomed.  Starting  as  savages,  they 
quickly  responded  to  the  ideas  of  civilization. 
They  had  a postal  system  from  one  end  of  the 
empire  to  the  other,  with  good  roads  and  protec- 
tion to  the  traveler.  Trade  and  industry  flourished 
to  an  extent  unknown  before.  Toleration  was 
shown  to  all  sects.  Complete  religious  liberty  was 
given  the  followers  of  Buddha,  Jesus,  and  Maho- 
met, and  to  the  Jews,  but  the  superstitious  and 
magical  practices  of  the  Taoists  were  put  under 
ban  and  their  books,  except  the  original  writings 
of  Lao-Tsze,  were  ordered  to  be  burned.  The 
Chinese,  with  their  social  system  thus  renovated 
and  enlarged,  became  almost  reconciled  to  the 
rule  of  foreigners. 


160 


CHINA’S  STORY 


The  Mongol  invasion  of  Europe  was  not  wholly 
an  evil.  It  hindered  the  spread  of  Mahometan- 
ism in  eastern  Asia.  It  allowed  the  Christian 
missionaries  to  come  into  Mongolia,  where  they 
were  for  a while  so  successful  that  afterwards, 
when  the  Turks  closed  the  roads  into  Asia,  thus 
hindering  caravans  and  traffic,  there  grew  up  the 
legend  of  a renowned  Far  Eastern  Prester  John, 
who  long  had  the  fame  of  a great  church  prince. 
There  are  “lost”  Christian  nations  in  the  same 
sense  as  there  are  “ lost  ” tribes  of  Israel. 

The  Mongols  opened  new  lines  of  traffic. 
Through  the  freedom  of  the  roads,  many  valuable 
discoveries  of  the  Chinese  were  carried  westward, 
giving  half-civilized  Europe  the  rich  fruits  of 
Oriental  civilization.  Our  debt  to  China  is  vast. 
Among  other  things  came  printing,  gunpowder, 
the  mariner’s  compass,  paper  money,  wall  paper, 
silk,  tea,  porcelain,  banks,  etc. 

Marco  Polo,  who  in  1295  A.  D.,  while  in  prison, 
wrote  his  book  on  China  — the  first  in  Europe  — 
was  laughed  at  as  a romancer,  but  he  told  the 
truth  as  he  saw  it,  as  we  now  know.  Probably  no 
medieval  nation  in  Europe,  before  1300  a.  d.,  was 
on  the  whole  as  highly  civilized  as  China.  The  old 
text  found  new  application,  that  our  composite 
\Y estern  civilization  is  but  a revised  and  corrected 
edition  of  other  civilizations.  The  Orientals  excel 
at  originating,  and  the  Westerners  at  developing 
and  adapting.  Each  is  debtor  to  the  other. 


WHAT  THE  MONGOLS  DID  FOR  CHINA  161 


This  subject  deserves  further  study,  but  it  is 
manifest  that  the  Mongols  were  not  wholly  a curse 
to  the  world,  and  that  the  progress  of  the  race  was 
hastened  by  bringing  together  the  nations  at  oppo- 
site ends  of  the  earth’s  greatest  island,  the  Eur- 
asian continent. 

The  Mongols  in  India,  called  Moguls,  descend- 
ants of  Tamerlane,  produced,  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, one  of  the  most  liberal  lines  of  rulers  known 
in  history.  Under  them  there  arose  a brilliant 
civilization.  Men  of  genius  from  both  China  and 
Europe  were  invited,  like  the  yatoi^  whom  the 
Japanese  from  1870  to  1900  employed  to  recon- 
struct their  civilization,  to  lend  their  aid  and  tal- 
ents in  making  the  Mogul  Empire  lovely  as  well 
as  strong.  Some  of  the  fairest  works  of  art  and 
architecture  known  on  earth,  such  as  the  Taj 
Mahal  and  Kutub  Minar,  have  arisen  from  the 
blending  of  the  Italian,  the  Mongol,  and  the  Hin- 
doo genius.  In  every  country  the  Mongols  showed 
a talent  for  absorbing  what  was  good  and  noble  in 
the  civilization  amid  which  they  dwelt.  What  the 
Tartar  genius  is  capable  of,  when  fused  with  that 
of  other  races,  is  clearly  discerned  in  China,  Japan, 
and  Korea,  by  all  who  have  openness  of  mind  to 
see.  The  later  Tartars,  or  Manchus,  became  “the 
most  improvable  race  in  Asia.” 

In  Russia  the  contact  of  the  Mongols  had  cer- 
tain striking  results  still  visible  in  the  Czar’s  do- 
minions. Ordinary  horses  would  have  died  during 


162 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  long  winter,  which  in  the  Russian  vernacular 
is  first  green,  then  white,  then  black ; during  which 
the  ground  is  wholly  covered,  and  food  for  ordi- 
nary cattle  is  provided  only  by  the  forethought  of 
man.  The  Mongol  ponies,  with  their  long  snouts, 
were  able  to  dig  into  the  snow,  throw  it  up,  and 
find  and  feed  upon  the  buried  grass  and  plenti- 
ful moss.  The  Mongols  conquered  by  their  better 
arms,  discipline,  and  tactics.  They  secured  a foot- 
hold which  enabled  them  to  remain  in  Russia  two 
centuries.  Indeed,  they  were  not  wholly  driven  out 
until  about  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  long 
dwelling  of  these  Orientals  in  Russia  has  left  its 
mark  upon  the  faces  and  forms  of  the  Russians, 
many  of  whom,  in  that  conglomerate  empire,  are 
more  Mongolian,  or  Tartar,  than  are  many  of  the 
Japanese,  who  have  in  them  a powerful  strain 
of  true  Aryan  and  Semitic  blood. 

Not  least  of  the  Mongols’  gifts  to  China  was 
the  stimulus  and  fertilization  of  the  native  intellect 
in  the  domain  of  the  imagination.  The  great  lit- 
erary achievements  are  to  be  credited  to  them,  the 
drama  and  the  novel.  Previously  the  court  had 
songs,  music,  and  acting,  besides  the  blending  of 
the  two  in  the  opera.  Indeed,  in  a.  d.  713,  one  of 
the  Han  emperors  established  the  Imperial  Dra- 
matic College,  as  it  may  be  called,  in  which  hun- 
dreds of  male  and  female  performers  were  trained 
to  amuse  him  with  their  music  and  acting.  These 
were  called  Young  Folks  of  the  Pear  Garden,  by 


WHAT  THE  MONGOLS  DID  FOR  CHINA  163 

which  name  Chinese  actors  call  themselves  to  this 
day. 

Nearly  all  dramatic  pieces  were  at  first  reli- 
gious. Development  was  made  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  but  there  was  no  real  theatre  or  full  dramatic 
performance  until  the  Mongol  era.  Then  the  plays 
were  worked  up  by  the  Chinese  from  their  own 
history  and  social  life.  Some,  in  origin,  were  from 
Western  players  and  musicians  at  the  Mongol 
court.  Then,  from  the  court  to  the  people  came 
the  dramas  and  plays  illustrating  life.  Tragedy, 
melodrama,  and  comedy,  as  acted  on  the  stage,  are 
now  common  in  China.  These  had  been  long  known 
among  the  Mongols  and  were  introduced  by  them, 
the  Chinese  theatre  of  to-day  having  changed 
little  from  the  days  of  Kublai.  Now  there  are 
theatres  and  strolling  players  all  over  China.  In 
most  of  the  villages  the  theatre  and  stage  are  put 
up  with  bamboo  and  matting  by  expert  artificers. 
After  the  play,  which  lasts  two  or  three  days,  the 
temporary  structure  is  removed. 

Whether  the  Mongols  brought  the  romance  from 
that  paradise  of  the  story-tellers,  in  central  Asia, 
where  grew  up  from  the  soil  of  Persia,  India,  and 
Arabia  the  so-called  Arabian  Nights’  Entertain- 
ments, or  whether  they  invented  it  in  China,  the 
credit  of  the  Chinese  novel  belongs  to  the  Yuan 
era.  Before  this  time  there  were  only  fables,  an- 
ecdotes, short  stories,  and  the  lore  that  Buddhism 
supplied.  Whether  the  novel  was  developed  out 


164 


CHINA’S  STORY 


of  the  drama,  or  from  the  Buddhist  mystery  and 
morality  plays  and  pageants,  cannot  yet  be  said. 
There  is  a vast  storehouse  of  fiction,  but  only  a 
few  Chinese  novels  have  been  translated.  In  four- 
fold division,  they  deal  with  usurpation  or  plots ; 
love  and  intrigue  ; superstition,  local  legend,  myth- 
ical zoology,  etc. ; or  with  lawless  characters  ; ex- 
actly as  in  American  cheap  fiction. 

In  the  voluminous  folk-lore  of  China  one  soon 
learns  to  detect  the  elements,  Taoist,  Buddhist, 
primitive,  or  medieval,  and  to  recognize  the  sym- 
bols, characters,  and  course  of  the  story.  Confu- 
cianism, Taoism,  and  Buddhism  are  three  separate 
worlds  of  ideas,  differing  one  from  another  as  do 
air,  earth,  and  water;  birds,  beasts,  and  fishes. 

At  home,  in  China,  Mongol  supremacy  was  at 
first  the  rule  of  cow-boys  in  the  cities.  Yet  while 
the  men  who  governed  moved  around  more  freely 
on  horseback,  carrying  messages  and  transacting 
public  business  with  a celerity  that  startled  the 
staid  natives,  the  Chinese  women  retreated  still 
further  into  privacy  and  security.  It  is  often  sup- 
posed in  Europe  that  the  custom  of  foot-binding 
arose  because  husbands  wished  to  keep  their  wives 
at  home  and  to  prevent  them  from  gadding  about. 
On  the  contrary,  as  in  our  own  country,  it  was 
the  decree  of  fashion  that  led  women  to  make 
martyrs  of  themselves  in  order  to  have  small  and 
pretty  feet.  Chinese  girls  suffer  years  of  pain  and 
even  agony  in  order  to  turn  one  of  the  most  beau- 


WHAT  THE  MONGOLS  DID  FOR  CHINA  165 


tiful  things  in  nature — the  human  foot — into 
a hoof,  or  something  that  custom  calls  beautiful 
when  within  an  embroidered  slipper.  Such  extrem- 
ities might  be  attractive  if  belonging  to  sheep  or 
gazelles. 

Chinese  writers  say  that  a paragon  of  female 
beauty  in  the  person  of  Yao  Niang,  the  lovely 
concubine  of  the  last  of  the  Southern  line  of 
Tang  emperors,  began  the  practice.  According  to 
poetical  tradition,  her  feet  were  pinched  and 
“ cramped  into  the  semblance  of  the  new  moon.’* 
Such  an  example  set  at  court  was  soon  followed, 
and  became  so  general  that  it  will  require  genera- 
tions of  argument  and  disapproval  to  break  up 
the  custom. 

Undoubtedly  the  rough  manners  of  the  Mongols 
drove  Chinese  women  into  stricter  privacy,  and 
helped  to  immure  women.  Centuries  of  Confucian- 
ism, foot-binding,  and  abominable  customs  still 
tolerated  have  contributed  to  make  it  an  ordeal 
for  decent  women  to  appear  freely  on  the  streets 
of  a Chinese  city,  encouraging  also  female  slavery 
and  the  multiplication  of  the  wrong  kind  of  women, 
to  the  detriment  of  public  morals. 

Deeper  notes  were  struck  in  the  Chinese  con- 
sciousness, and  imagination  was  kindled  by  the 
clash  of  alien  with  native  humanity.  Certainly 
from  this  era  literature  is  infused  with  a new 
spirit  and  takes  on  more  fascinating  forms.  The 
sublimity  of  thought  and  boldness  of  imagery 


166 


CHINA’S  STORY 


stimulated  may  be  best  set  forth  to  the  Western 
mind  by  the  following  poem : — 

“ See  the  five  variegated  peaks  of  yon  mountain,  connected 
like  the  fingers  of  the  hand, 

And  rising  up  from  the  south,  as  a wall  midway  to  heaven  : 

At  night,  it  would  pluck,  from  the  inverted  concave,  the 
stars  of  the  Milky  Way  ; 

During  the  day,  it  explores  the  zenith  and  plays  with  the 
clouds. 

The  rain  has  ceased  — and  the  shining  summits  are  ap- 
parent in  the  void  expanse ; 

The  moon  is  up  — and  looks  like  a bright  pearl  over  the 
expanded  palm  ; 

One  might  imagine  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  stretched 
forth  an  arm 

From  afar  — from  beyond  the  sea  — and  was  numbering 
the  Nations.” 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  MING  EMPERORS 

The  Chinese  have  more  patriotism  than  the 
foreigner  is  apt  to  suppose.  In  1368  all  true-born 
Chinese  rejoiced  in  the  advent  of  a native  dynasty. 
Happily  the  new  ruler  showed  the  traits  of  a good 
priest  and  a true  shepherd  of  the  flock,  as  well 
as  those  of  a firm  general.  While  his  captains  re- 
strained the  Tartars  in  the  north,  he  gave  himself 
to  the  work  of  reducing  taxes,  cutting  down  the 
public  expenses,  and  opening  friendly  relations 
with  Korea  and  Japan.  In  everyway  he  showed 
himself  a wise  ruler.  Yet  the  empire  was  not  free 
from  usurpations  and  rebellions,  and  the  Tartars 
were  still  making  inroads  at  various  points  on  the 
northern  frontier,  which  was  too  extended  to  be 
easily  protected.  In  one  raid  they  captured  the 
Chinese  Emperor,  who  had  to  be  ransomed. 

Literature  was  not  forgotten.  The  great  ency- 
clopedia, completed  in  1407,  in  22,877  volumes,  is 
a unique  literary  monument  of  the  Ming  era.  An- 
other enterprise  was  the  collecting,  editing,  revis- 
ing, and  publication  of  the  classical  canon  of  scrip- 
ture and  the  works  of  the  schoolmen  of  the  Sung 
era.  The  barbarous  custom  of  putting  slaves  and 
concubines  to  death  when  an  emperor  died  was 


168 


CHINA’S  STORY 


abolished  forever  in  China.  Before  1465,  even  the 
most  loved  wives  were  buried  alive  in  the  imperial 
coflBn.  A via  sacra^  or  glorious  avenue  of  colossal 
stone  sculpture  - figures  of  mighty  men,  camels, 
horses,  animals  used  in  sacrifice,  with  pillars,  obe- 
lisks, monoliths,  marble  bridges,  and  monumental 
gateways,  was  reared  near  Peking.  Enshrined  in 
solemn  beauty  in  the  bosom  of  the  hills  are  the 
Thirteen  Tombs,  as  the  Chinese  call  them,  en- 
circled with  cypress  trees.  The  Ming  memorial 
arch  is  the  finest  in  the  empire.  The  entrance  is 
named  “Rest  the  Spirit.”  All  manner  of  beautiful 
woods,  marbles,  and  tiles  are  used  in  the  ancestral 
hall  and  shrines.  One  tablet  is  inscribed  “ The 
Tomb  of  the  Perfect  Ancestor  and  Literary  Em- 
peror.” The  procession  of  these  stone  figures  and 
the  tombs  and  shrines  form  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful places  in  all  China.  Japan  quickly  followed 
the  good  examples  set  her  by  China  during  the 
Ming  era,  in  memorial  architecture.  This  was  the 
age  of  the  tiled  pagoda.  When  first  built  in  China, 
these  tall  structures  were  heavy  and  stumpy,  like 
the  India  tope  or  dagoba.  The  Chinese  devel- 
oped them  into  slender,  graceful,  and  lofty  struc- 
tures, on  the  model  of  the  ever  beautiful  bamboo, 
famous  for  its  delicacy  and  strength,  often  hang- 
ing wind-bells  at  the  end  of  their  curves,  making 
music  in  the  air. 

The  canal  between  Peking  and  the  Peiho  River 
was  so  enlarged  and  deepened  that  ships  could 


MEMORIAL  AVENUE,  MING  TOMBS 


THE  MING  EMPERORS 


169 


reach  the  capital  from  the  Yang-tse  Kiver  by- 
way of  the  Grand  Canal.  The  Great  Wall  was 
repaired  and  business  encouraged,  so  that  the 
nation  became  very  prosperous.  It  is  believed 
that  the  population  of  China  proper  rose  to  sixty 
millions. 

The  glory  of  the  dynasty  culminated  at  the 
opening  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  public 
works  on  a colossal  scale  were  carried  out.  Nan- 
king, the  capital,  became  so  famous  that  in  dis- 
tant lands  a Chinese  was  known  as  a “Nanking- 
man.”  I was  so  called  by  the  children  of  interior 
Japan,  in  1871.  Strangers  were  supposed  to  be 
either  Chinese,  that  is,  “ Eastern  men”  (to-jin),  or 
Nankingmen.  Or  they  were  called  Holland  men, 
or  Outlanders. 

One  important  event  was  a war  with  Japan, 
though  the  battlefield  was  Korea.  Between  the 
Japanese  and  Chinese  no  love  has  ever  been  lost. 
The  earliest  men  in  Nippon  knew  nothing  about 
China,  but  the  medieval  Japanese  had  a great 
feeling  of  reverence  and  gratitude  for  this  Trea- 
sure Land  of  the  West  from  which  they  received 
writing,  literature,  costume,  etiquette,  medicine, 
and  science,  and  a “book  religion,” — Buddhism. 
It  was  by  China’s  aid  that  they  were  able  to  rise 
from  barbarism  to  be  a civilized  nation.  Yet 
the  Mikado’s  subjects  could  never  brook  the  idea 
of  the  Chinese  looking  down  upon  them.  They 
called  their  emperor  also  the  “ Son  of  Heaven,” 


170 


CHINA’S  STORY 


and  theirs  the  “ Country  governed  by  a Heaven- 
descended  line  of  rulers.”  They  used  exactly  the 
same  words  and  phrases  about  their  Mikado  as 
the  Chinese  did  about  their  Emperor,  speaking 
of  the  Dragon’s  Face,  the  Dragon’s  Seat,  the 
Dragon’s  Chariot,  and  of  their  nobles  as  the  Clouds 
(of  Heaven),  etc.  Just  as  in  Europe  our  medieval 
barbarian  fathers  imitated  the  Roman  Empire  and 
emperor,  and  their  kings  and  emperors  called 
themselves  Caesar,  Kaiser,  Czar ; or  in  republics 
used  the  letters  S.  P.  Q.  (Senate  and  People),  and 
later  founded  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  inheriting 
Roman  law,  custom,  and  rhetorical  expressions,  so 
the  Japanese  imitated  China  in  a thousand  ways. 

But  between  China  and  Japan,  and  Rome  and 
the  northern  nations,  there  was  this  difference. 
The  Roman  Empire  was  dead,  but  the  Chinese 
Empire  was  very  much  alive;  and  the  Chinese 
considered  the  Japanese  vassals  or  at  least  pupils, 
which  the  latter  never  acknowledged  and  ever 
bitterly  scouted  and  resisted.  As  there  could  not 
be  two  suns  in  the  same  sky,  Japan  considered 
China  as  bigoted  and  conceited.  China  returned 
the  compliment  by  looking  on  Japan  as  an  impu- 
dent upstart.  The  Chinese  often  used,  even  as 
late  as  1894,  the  ancient  term  of  contempt,  Wo- 
jin,  or  dwarfs,  which  is  very  insulting;  as  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  Empress  of  China  when  she 
called  on  her  soldiers  “to  root  the  Wo-jin  out  of 
their  lairs.” 


THE  MING  EMPERORS 


171 


The  invasion  of  Kublai  Khan,  in  which  the 
Chinese  and  Koreans  assisted,  incensed  the  Jap- 
anese, who,  when  refused  trading  privileges,  be- 
gan a career  of  piracy  and  privateering.  They 
captured  towns  and  cities  and  carried  off  slaves, 
prisoners,  and  spoils.  They  were  fully  as  cruel  as 
our  Norman  ancestors.  The  Chinese  along  the 
coast  besought  their  gods  to  deliver  them  from 
the  wrath  of  the  murderous  Japanese,  even  as 
our  forefathers  prayed  in  their  litanies,  “from 
the  fury  of  the  Northmen  ” (that  is,  the  ancestors 
of  the  Danes,  Norwegians,  and  Swedes  of  to- 
day), “good  Lord,  deliver  us.” 

Chinese  armies  were  sent  to  defend  the  coast, 
and  the  pirates  from  Nippon  became  less  trouble- 
some. Hideyoshi,  the  regent,  having  at  home  a 
large  military  force  consisting  of  the  retainers  of 
the  daimios,  whom  he  had  subdued  in  the  name  of 
the  Mikado,  thus  unifying  Japan,  but  whose  blades 
were  restless  in  their  scabbards,  planned  to  con- 
quer Korea  first  and  then  invade  China.  He 
claimed  that  the  Ming  Emperor  had  insulted  him 
by  offering  to  make  him  King  of  Japan,  on  con- 
dition of  Japan’s  becoming  a confessed  vassal  to 
China.  Having  been  defied  by  the  Koreans,  he 
sent  two  divisions  of  his  army  to  invade  their 
country,  one  under  Konishi  the  Christian  and  the 
other  under  Kato  the  Buddhist.  In  eighteen  days 
from  landing,  the  rival  divisions  entered  at  oppo- 
site gates  of  Seoul. 


172 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Hideyoshi’s  reinforcements  were  checked  by  a 
large  Chinese  army  marching  into  northern  Korea. 
A great  battle  was  fought  at  Ping  Yang,  exactly 
where,  in  1904,  the  soldiers  of  the  two  nations  met 
in  conflict  again.  The  Japanese  were  beaten,  and 
with  “ hearts  cold  in  their  bosoms  ” they  retreated. 
In  the  southwestern  waters,  the  Japanese  plans 
were  utterly  ruined  by  the  Korean  Admiral  Yu, 
with  his  famous  iron-clad,  or  turtle  ship,  which 
rammed,  fired,  sunk,  or  scattered  the  Japanese 
ships. 

There  were  many  battles  and  sieges  in  Korea 
at  places  where  now  are  cities,  railway  stations, 
or  telegraph  offices.  At  length,  in  1598,  on  the 
death  of  Hideyoshi,  who  meanwhile  had  become 
the  Taiko,  or  ex-regent,  peace  was  arranged  and 
the  armies  were  called  home.  A trading-station 
at  Fusan,  across  the  sea  from  Nagasaki,  was  kept 
by  the  Japanese. 

The  Chinese  change  their  dynasty  every  two  or 
three  centuries,  and  the  Mings,  like  most  of  those 
who  have  ruled  China,  were  not  destined  to  a long 
career.  One  of  the  longest  reigns  was  that  of 
Wan  Li,  who  ruled  from  1573  to  1620,  during 
which  great  events  in  connection  with  Japan  and 
Europe  took  place. 

The  reason  for  these  short-lived  dynasties  in  the 
long-lived  empire  is  very  plain.  In  the  long  Chi- 
nese story,  the  people  are  the  real  hero.  The  na- 
tion is  the  tree,  the  dynasties  are  but  the  leaves. 


THE  MING  EMPERORS 


173 


The  latter,  unless  China’s  constitution  is  radically 
reformed,  are  bound  to  fall.  The  duration  of  a 
ruling  house  is  brief,  the  life  of  the  people  is  eter- 
nal. National  government  and  responsibility  must 
be  shared  with  the  people,  if  the  empire  is  to  live. 

A cloud  of  destiny,  at  first  no  bigger  than  a 
man’s  hand,  rose  in  the  northeast.  A Tartar  clan 
named  the  Manchu,  or  Pure,  dwelling  in  the  dis- 
trict about  thirty  miles  east  of  Mukden,  united 
the  other  clans  with  them  into  a confederacy.  The 
Chinese  Emperor  championed  the  cause  of  a chief- 
tain hostile  to  the  Manchus.  It  was  a mistake. 
Forty  thousand  Manchus  invaded  Liao-tung  and 
their  leader  read  before  the  whole  army  a declara- 
tion of  war  against  China.  The  paper  was  sol- 
emnly burnt  and  the  smoke  arose  as  a prayer  to 
Heaven.  The  Chinese  made  their  second  mistake 
in  dividing  their  army  into  four  divisions,  each  of 
which  was  defeated  in  succession  by  the  Manchus. 

As  soon  as  men  or  nations  have  become  great 
or  famous,  they  want  a genealogy  or  family  his- 
tory showing  illustrious  origins.  Fashion  requires 
it  and  it  impresses  the  vulgar.  If  facts  or  proof 
fail,  literary  men  make  up,  with  the  aid  of  fables 
or  mythology,  that  story  of  their  ancestors  which 
suits  the  taste  of  the  age.  The  Japanese  and  Ko- 
reans borrowed  this  habit  from  the  Chinese.  As 
nothing  is  exactly  known  of  the  origin  of  the  Man- 
chus in  the  desert,  where  there  was  no  writing,  a 
pretty  fairy-tale  — far  more  delicious  to  the  pal- 


174 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ate  of  imagination — is  told  in  place  of  history.  It 
is  this. 

Ages  ago,  under  the  northern  shadow  of  the 
Ever  White  Mountains  that  divide  Korea  from 
Manchuria,  three  virgins  from  Heaven  descended 
to  the  shore  of  a lake,  which  reflected  on  its  bosom 
the  azure  of  the  skies  and  the  majestic  forms  of 
the  snowy  peaks.  By  day  they  enjoyed  the  rose 
tints  of  the  morn  on  the  ripples  raised  by  breezes, 
and  at  noon  they  rejoiced  in  the  golden  sunlight. 
They  found  rapture  in  the  glories  of  the  sunset 
and  clapped  their  hands  with  delight  when  they  saw 
the  mirror  of  the  lake  spangled  with  star  jewels. 
Thus  they  lived  on  earth’s  fairest  portion,  nor  ever 
longed  for  their  home  in  the  skies. 

One  day  the  three  sisters  were  bathing  in  the 
crystal  waters,  having  left  their  robes  on  the  peb- 
bly beach,  when  they  saw  a magpie  flying  in  the 
air.  Pausing  for  a moment  over  the  youngest  of 
the  virgins,  the  bird  dropped  a blood-red  fruit. 
As  the  magpie  was  sacred  in  their  eyes,  this  was 
a happy  omen.  The  maiden  at  once  ate  the  fruit 
as  a message  from  Heaven. 

By  this  divine  token,  the  virgin  conceived  and 
in  due  time  bore  a son  whom  she  called  the  Golden 
Family  Stem.  This  name,  in  Manchu,  Ai-sin-Goro, 
is  the  family  name  of  the  emperors  of  China. 
Both  the  Chinese  and  Manchu  words  for  the  dy- 
nasty, meaning  bright  or  clear,  have  reference  to 
the  splendor  of  water  on  which  the  sun  shines. 


THE  MING  EMPERORS 


175 


The  mother  told  her  son  that  he  was  Heaven-born. 
She  taught  him  that  his  destiny  was  to  heal  quarrels 
among  men  and  bring  peace  and  prosperity  to  the 
nations. 

The  boy  grew  up  under  the  mountain  shadow 
and  by  the  lakeside.  In  due  time  his  mother  en- 
tered the  icy  caves  of  the  dead.  Then  the  lad 
started  out  into  the  world  on  his  own  career.  In 
a little  boat  he  paddled  down  the  river  Hurka 
(near  Ninguta),  which  flows  into  the  Sungari, 
reaching  a place  where  dwelt  three  clans  then  at 
war  with  one  another.  Impressed  by  his  appearance, 
they  hailed  him  as  their  chief,  and,  uniting  their 
fortunes,  they  made  a settlement  at  Otoli,  and  he 
ruled  over  them.  In  one  of  the  later  wars,  he  and 
all  his  sons  were  slain  except  one  who  escaped. 
The  murderers  chased  Fancha,  as  he  was  called, 
but  when  a magpie  alighted  on  his  head,  the 
youth  stood  still  as  a post,  and  turned  his  back  on 
his  pursuers  as  they  rushed  through  the  forest ; 
they  took  him  for  a piece  of  dried  wood,  and  pass- 
ing him , gave  up  the  hunt.  The  magpie  has  ever 
been  a sacred  bird  with  the  Manchus. 

The  mark  of  nationality  among  these  north- 
eastern Tartars  was  the  queue.  They  shaved  the 
whole  front  part  of  the  scalp  and  then  let  their 
hair  grow  behind  into  a long  tail.  A young  Manchu 
warrior  was  as  proud  of  his  tail  of  hair  as  a Mo- 
hawk or  Pawnee  Indian  was  of  his  scalp-lock. 

Before  this  time,  the  Chinese  wore  their  hair  as 


176 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  Koreans  do,  that  is,  done  up  in  a sort  of  knot 
or  chignon  at  the  back  of  the  head.  Thus  it  hap- 
pens that  Chinese,  on  first  coming  to  Korea,  are 
amused  at  seeing  the  fashion  of  topknots  prevalent, 
just  as  it  was  among  their  ancestors  of  the  Ming 
period.  If  short  by  nature,  the  queue  was  length- 
ened out,  by  means  of  black  silk  or  false  hair,  so 
as  to  reach  below  the  knees.  In  China  this  queue 
became  the  solemn  mark  of  loyalty  to  the  Manchu 
sovereign.  Millions  of  natives  were  slaughtered  be- 
fore they  would  submit  their  heads  to  the  razor. 
Although  Chinese  males  wash  their  own  clothes, 
being  laundry-men  by  habit,  they  do  not  shave 
themselves,  but  pay  for  their  tonsure.  To  the 
Manchus  the  barbers  of  China  are  very  grateful. 

Until  our  twentieth  century,  in  China,  not  to 
wear  the  queue,  or  to  cut  it  off,  was  a sign  of  dis- 
loyalty to  the  emperor.  Some  of  the  anti-dynastic 
secret  societies  showed  their  enmity  to  the  Peking 
rulers  by  secretly  snipping  off  the  queues  of  prom- 
inent citizens,  or  men  high  in  office,  thus  bring- 
ing disgrace  and  shame  upon  them. 

Nevertheless  the  Chinese  are  not  peculiar  in 
priding  themselves  on  their  hair  tails,  for  it  was 
the  fashion  with  Europeans  and  Americans  in  the 
eighteenth  century  to  wear  them.  Most  of  the 
Continental  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  Revolution 
had  pigtails  which  they  larded,  powdered,  or  wore 
in  eelskins,  looking  just  as  funny  as  do  the  Chinese. 
In  every  country  in  the  world  there  is  a language 


THE  MING  EMPERORS 


177 


of  hair.  The  fashions  of  hair  and  head-gear  serve 
as  signs  of  nationality,  sex,  marital  promise  or  con- 
dition. The  Japanese,  however,  cut  off  their  top- 
knots  in  1870,  the  Koreans  two  decades  later,  and 
the  Chinese  are  now  slowly  following  the  example 
of  the  world  at  large.  In  China,  whether  with  or 
without  hair  tails,  the  men  follow  a uniform  fash- 
ion, but  there  is  an  amazing  variety  among  the 
women  in  arranging  their  tresses. 

When  the  Manchus  appeared  before  the  oft- 
besieged  and  many  times  captured  city  of  Liao- 
yang,  the  people  submitted  to  their  new  masters, 
giving  signs  of  their  sincerity  by  shaving  the  front 
part  of  their  scalps  and  waiting  for  their  queues 
to  grow. 

The  Manchus  tried  to  take  the  city  of  Ning 
Yuan,  north  of  the  Great  Wall,  but  now  they  had 
to  face  gunpowder  and  cannon-balls.  The  Jesuit 
Europeans,  being  men  of  science,  had  taught  the 
Ming  men  how  to  cast  cannon,  and  the  Chinese 
had  also  bought  artillery  from  the  Portuguese  at 
Macao.  Under  the  training  of  the  missionaries, 
they  made  and  served  their  heavy  guns  so  effec- 
tively that  the  Manchus  had  to  withdraw.  They 
established  their  capital  at  Mukden,  where  are 
to-day  the  imposing  mausoleums  of  the  Manchu 
dynasty.  In  1629  they  marched  into  Korea,  and 
securing  the  king’s  submission,  advanced  into 
China  at  the  head  of  a hundred  thousand  men  to 
besiege  Peking.  The  Chinese  were  reinforced  and 


178 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  Manchus  retreated,  so  the  empire  was  still  safe 
for  a while. 

The  torment  of  China  is  the  frequency  of  in- 
surrections. One  of  these  broke  out  in  the  central 
region,  which  was  so  successful  that  after  captur- 
ing many  cities,  Li,  the  chief  rebel,  declared 
himself  emperor  and  moved  on  to  Peking.  The 
Chinese  sovereign,  taken  by  surprise,  went  up  on 
Coal  Hill,  north  of  the  imperial  palace,  and  seeing 
the  great  rebel  host,  ended  his  life  by  suicide.  Yet 
Li’s  triumph  was  short.  The  Chinese  commander 
in  the  north  made  an  alliance  with  the  Manchus, 
and  a great  battle  was  fought  near  the  eastern 
end  of  the  Great  Wall,  in  which  the  allies  won 
and  the  army  of  the  rebels  was  scattered.  The 
Manchu  chief  Durgan  entered  Peking  and  placed 
his  nephew,  a child  eight  years  of  age,  on  the 
throne.  Thus  in  1644,  amid  rebellion  and  blood- 
shed, the  Ming  dynasty  came  to  an  end. 

The  Great  Wall  was  now  no  longer  needed,  for 
the  Tartars  were  inside  China  proper  to  stay  — 
and  to  become  Chinese.  In  spite  of  the  romantic 
attempt  of  Koxinga  to  hold  Formosa  for  the 
Mings,  the  dynasty  was  defunct  beyond  all  hope 
of  resurrection.  For  us  the  Mings  survive  ever  in 
memory,  chiefly  through  the  exquisite  porcelain 
and  other  art  works  of  their  brilliant  era. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  MANCHUS  AND  EUROPEANS 

From  the  moment  that  the  men  of  the  desert 
entered  China,  and,  from  living  on  the  backs  of 
horses  and  among  cattle,  slept  in  houses  and  lived 
like  civilized  people,  they  began  to  lose  their  lan- 
guage and  for  the  most  part  their  peculiar  customs, 
and  rapidly  to  become  Chinese. 

It  is  the  China  of  the  Ming  and  Manchu  dy- 
nasties that  our  European  ancestors  first  saw  and 
described,  and  with  which  the  books  written  and 
read  during  the  last  three  hundred  years  have 
made  us  familiar.  The  notions  and  ideas  of  the 
average  man  of  to-day,  who  does  not  study,  is  of 
this  China,  now  already  in  large  part  obsolete. 
Most  of  the  pictures  which  have  impressed  us  as 
children,  beyond  the  power  of  any  printed  matter 
or  writing,  and  the  curiosities  in  the  museums  are 
from  Ming  days.  It  is  the  China  from  which  our 
fathers  first  obtained  porcelain,  lacquer,  ivory, 
and  crystal  work,  matting,  drugs,  tea,  spices,  fire- 
crackers, nankeen,  crape,  silk,  and  odd  things 
bearing  the  odors  of  the  East.  China  is  above  all 
others  the  land  of  odors,  — sweet,  mysterious, 
pleasant,  and  otherwise. 

The  Portuguese,  first  to  round  the  Cape  of  Good 


180 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Hope,  were  the  European  pioneers  in  China.  Two 
small  fleets  of  these  “ Southern  Barbarians  ” came 
to  Canton  in  1511.  They  were  well  treated.  A re- 
vulsion of  Chinese  feeling  followed  after  the  com- 
mander of  the  third  fleet  had  committed  brutal 
outrages  along  the  coast.  He  was  seized  and  be- 
headed and  his  men  massacred  at  Ningpo.  The 
survivors  fled  to  Macao,  where  they  were  allowed 
to  settle.  Until  within  recent  years,  Macao  was 
virtually  a Portuguese  possession,  and  with  Canton 
was  one  of  the  two  chief  foreign  seaports  of  China. 
Here,  in  exile,  Camoens  wrote  his  poem,  the 
“ Lusiad,”  which  celebrates  the  achievements  of 
Portuguese  explorers  in  the  Orient. 

The  Spaniards  followed,  settling  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  At  Manila,  where  the  population 
was  chiefly  Chinese,  they  treated  the  people  with 
cruelty,  and  suspecting  them  of  complicity  in  a 
plot,  massacred  thousands  of  them.  After  such 
treatment  of  their  countrymen,  the  Chinese  were 
not  inclined  to  receive  human  beings  from  Europe 
very  hospitably.  For  centuries  the  “ foreign  dev- 
ils,” so  called  in  China,  were  believed  to  be  so 
because  of  what  the  people  heard  about  them. 

The  Dutch  pioneers  in  the  Far  East,  the  Hout- 
man  brothers,  having  obtained  charts  of  the  seas, 
sailed  from  the  Texel  in  1595.  By  1622,  after 
failing  to  establish  a factory  in  Canton,  the  Dutch 
secured  a foothold  in  the  Pescadores.  When 
driven  out  from  these  islands,  they  made  a strong 


THE  MANCHUS  AND  EUROPEANS 


181 


settlement  at  Tai-wan,  in  Formosa,  built  a fort, 
laid  out  a town,  aud  began  the  conversion  of  the 
natives.  They  led  all  Protestant  nations  in  estab- 
lishing the  first  foreign  missions  on  a large  scale. 
Over  a score  of  ordained  ministers  and  many 
teachers  instructed  hundreds  of  converts  and  trans- 
lated the  creeds  and  the  gospels  into  Formosan. 
They  met  with  great  success  until  conquered  by 
Koxinga.  Such  an  impression  was  made  on  the 
people  that,  after  three  centuries,  the  first  natives 
ordained  to  office  in  the  churches,  in  our  days, 
were  descendants  of  the  converts  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Formosa,  hitherto  virtually  unknown  or 
ignored  by  China,  was  colonized  by  Chinese  from 
Fukien  province  by  Koxinga  and  his  father,  the 
latter  having  married  a wife  from  the  Japanese, 
then  numerous  in  the  island. 

The  Ming  dynasty  was  in  power  when  the  great 
missionary  Francis  Xavier,  after  laboring  in  India 
and  Japan,  came  to  China.  He  lived  on  the  island 
which  he  named  Saint  John,  now  corrupted  into 
San  Ciano,  near  Macao,  where  he  died  in  1552. 
To  this  day,  the  Portuguese  make  annual  pilgrim- 
ages to  his  grave.  His  two  successors,  Roger  and 
Ricci,  settled  in  Kwantung  in  1582,  and  under  the 
Emperor  Wan  Li  reached  Peking.  Ricci  was 
highly  honored  at  court,  and  being  a man  of  sci- 
ence, gave  the  Chinese  the  benefit  of  his  know- 
ledge of  astronomy  and  mechanics.  He  translated 
Euclid  and  helped  to  correct  the  Chinese  calendar. 


182 


CHINA’S  STORY 


besides  assisting  in  making  and  using  improved 
war  weapons.  Some  of  these  astronomical  instru- 
ments, their  supports  being  cast  in  bronze  in  the 
form  of  dragons  and  other  mythical  creatures, 
found  in  Peking,  were  removed  to  Germany  after 
the  Boxer  riots,  as  part  of  the  loot  taken  by  Chris- 
tian armies  to  Europe. 

What  were  the  first  impressions  and  real  feel- 
ings of  the  Chinese  toward  Europeans?  We  are 
apt  to  suppose  that  these  Asian  people  must  of 
necessity  consider  us  handsome  and  our  ways  plea- 
sant. Yet  in  truth  what  we  think  of  them  and  what 
they  think  of  us  is  well  balanced.  Our  faces  seem 
often  pale  and  ghost-like.  Our  deep-set  eyes  have 
to  them  an  uncanny,  far-apart  look.  Our  high, 
large  noses  frighten  their  children.  Our  hair, 
of  various  tints,  shades,  and  colors,  instead  of 
standard  black,  makes  anything  but  a pleasing  im- 
pression at  first.  The  odor  of  our  bodies,  whether 
we  are  emperors  and  empresses,  or  day  laborers, 
being  that  of  meat-eating  people,  is  not  pleasant 
to  these  rice-eaters.  Our  drinking  of  liquor  from 
large  glasses,  and  our  use  of  cooked  flesh,  not  in 
scraps  but  in  quantities,  besides  many  forms  of 
our  table  manners  and  general  etiquette,  the  dress, 
public  relations,  and  common  ideas  concerning 
the  sexes,  are  in  their  eyes  decidedly  below  par. 
They  consider  departure  from  inherited  tradition 
outlandish,  improper,  wrong,  wicked,  devilish,  — 
according  to  the  culture,  experience,  or  reason 


THE  MANCHUS  AND  EUROPEANS  183 


possessed  by  the  person  judging.  In  every  land, 
however,  gentlemen  are  gentlemen  and  ladies  are 
ladies,  and  they  soon  discover  one  another.  Prob- 
ably Moses,  Confucius,  and  St.  Paul  could  dine 
together  comfortably  and  enjoy  an  interview.  Cer- 
tainly many  Chinese  are  noble  exemplars  of  loyalty, 
gratitude,  and  friendship  ; not  at  all  the  “treach- 
erous ” people  so  often  caricatured  in  America. 

While  people  in  the  northern  part  of  China 
submitted  and  shaved  their  heads  in  token  of 
obedience  to  the  new  rulers,  the  southerners  at- 
tempted to  keep  up  the  Ming  dynasty.  Several 
emperors  under  this  name  held  power  for  a short 
time.  The  national  feeling  toward  the  Ming,  or  any 
other  dynasty,  is  accurately  expressed  in  the  motto 
of  a patriot  who  refused  to  cut  the  dikes  and  flood 
the  country,  because  it  would  hurt  the  Chinese 
more  than  the  Manchus,  — “First  the  people  and 
next  the  dynasty.’’  As  the  Tartar  soldiers  moved 
south,  capturing  city  after  city,  they  compelled  the 
beaten  folk  to  apply  the  razor  to  their  scalps, 
making  a harvest  for  the  barbers.  The  career  of 
victory  of  the  Peking  troops  did  not  end  until  they 
were  at  the  borders  of  Burma. 

In  general,  the  policy  of  the  Manchus  was  one 
of  conciliation.  China  was  the  fat  goose  that  laid 
golden  eggs,  and  these  new  politicians  were  not  in 
a hurry  to  ruin  their  prize.  A grand  council  was 
organized,  consisting  of  four  members,  two  Man- 
chus and  two  Chinese.  These  four  men,  having 


184 


CHINA’S  STORY 


audience  of  the  sovereign,  outranked  the  memhers 
of  the  Six  Boards  and  of  the  Board  of  Censors. 
By  thus  giving  equal  representation  to  both  races, 
the  conquerors  gradually  removed  most  of  the 
hatred  with  which  they  were  at  first  regarded. 
The  garrisons  and  military  officers  were  Manchu, 
but  most  of  the  civil  offices  were  held  by  Chinese. 

This  fact  explains  one  great  difference  between 
the  Japanese  and  their  Continental  neighbors.  In 
China  there  has  always  been  a great  gulf  fixed 
between  the  soldier  and  the  civilian.  The  idea  of 
Chinese  statesmen  has  always  been  to  govern 
through  moral  agencies  rather  than  by  physical 
force.  War  is  considered  a rude  and  abominable 
business,  fit  only  for  men  of  low  degree.  Hence 
the  soldier  is  despised  and  the  scholar  is  honored. 
The  man  of  war  was  especially  hated  when  a 
Manchu. 

In  Japan,  on  the  contrary,  the  soldier  and  the 
scholar  have  been  one.  The  accomplishments  of 
the  pen  and  the  sword  were  united  in  the  samurai, 
or  servant  of  the  emperor,  who  incarnated  the  his- 
tory of  Japan.  Under  feudalism,  the  merchant, 
long  honored  in  China,  was  despised  in  Japan.  Yet 
as  Nippon  has  changed,  so  has  the  Central  Empire, 
in  her  ideas,  while  facing  the  new  age  of  econom- 
ics under  pressure  of  hostile  nations,  and  she  is 
adopting  modern  armaments.  In  this  century 
China  is  honoring  the  soldier  and  Japan  the 
trader. 


THE  MANCIIUS  AND  EUROPEANS  185 


When  the  great  emperor  Kang  Hi,  eight  years 
of  age,  began  in  a.  d.  1662  his  reign  of  sixty-one 
years,  the  country  entered  upon  a career  of  pros- 
perity and  splendor.  Two  embassies  from  Europe 
came  to  Peking  in  1664,  but  when  the  new  rulers 
insisted  upon  the  kow-tow,  or  nine  prostrations, 
the  Russians,  who  had  come  overland  through 
Siberia,  refused  and  returned.  The  Dutch  yielded 
for  the  sake  of  trade,  but  gained  little  thereby. 
Adam  Schall,  a Jesuit  missionary,  was  for  a time 
the  tutor  of  the  young  emperor,  but  on  a false 
charge  was  thrown  into  prison.  The  emperor 
showed  favor  to  the  Jesuits,  while  Father  Ver- 
biest,  a Dutch  priest,  succeeded  as  tutor  to  the 
emperor  and  corrected  errors  in  the  calendar. 

Chinese  and  Japanese,  when  jealous,  are  as 
bitter  and  unrelenting  in  punishing  rivals  as  are 
Europeans.  The  tragedies  of  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don and  of  the  graves  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Peter 
in  Chains  have  their  counterparts  in  the  East. 
The  court  officers  were  not  at  all  thankful  to  the 
Dutchman,  despite  his  thirty  years  of  honorable 
service.  They  persecuted  him  for  his  truth-tell- 
ing, which  is  no  more  liked  in  Japan  or  China 
than  in  Europe  when  it  is  disagreeable.  They 
were  especially  sensitive,  since  the  calendar  is  the 
sign  of  Chinese  infallibility,  and  when  accepted 
by  pupil  nations  is  a sign  of  vassalage.  The 
mandarins  had  Verbiest  condemned  to  be  sliced 
into  a thousand  pieces,  but  the  order  was  not  exe- 


186 


CHINA’S  STORY 


cuted,  and  he  died  with  a whole  skin  in  prison  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight.  Kegis  and  others  con- 
ducted a survey  of  the  empire,  then  the  most  com- 
plete geographical  work  ever  done  out  of  Europe. 
When  it  was  published  the  learned  men  in  the 
West  obtained  clear  ideas  about  China’s  greatness. 

As  usual,  the  southern  Chinese,  who  in  mind 
and  habit  differ  notably  from  their  countrymen 
in  the  north,  were  in  rebellion,  one  of  the  rebels 
even  threatening  to  come  to  Peking,  but  he  was 
subdued.  Knowing  how  weak  they  were  on  the 
water,  the  Mauchus  sent  an  overwhelming  force 
to  make  Formosa  a part  of  the  empire.  Three 
hundred  ships  with  twelve  thousand  men  were 
sent  to  conquer  and  occupy  the  island,  but  they 
won  only  the  western  half.  With  this  success 
and  exception,  the  great  Kang  Hi’s  reign  was 
undisputed.  He  was  a generous  patron  of  litera- 
ture. The  superb  standard  dictionary  and  ency- 
clopaedia of  5026  volumes  were  compiled  under 
his  direction,  and  published.  Kang  Hi  also  wrote 
out  himself  sixteen  famous  moral  maxims.  These, 
expanded  and  annotated  by  his  son,  formed  the 
book  called  the  Sacred  Edict,  which  ever  since 
has  been  read  and  expounded  throughout  the  em- 
pire ; indeed,  it  is  supposed  to  be  read  in  every 
town  and  village  on  the  first  and  fifteenth  days 
of  the  month.  When  properly  carried  out,  the 
exercises  are  much  like  those  in  a church  on  Sun- 
day in  a Christian  land. 


THE  MANCHUS  AND  EUROPEANS  187 


In  religious  matters  the  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries enjoyed  imperial  favor,  built  one  hun- 
dred churches,  and  enrolled  one  hundred  thousand 
converts,  but  trouble  arose  within.  The  different 
orders  in  the  Catholic  Church  disputed  concern- 
ing the  term  to  be  used  for  God.  When  they  ap- 
pealed to  a ruler  in  Italy  to  settle  the  question, 
the  Chinese  Emperor  could  not  understand  such  a 
procedure,  and  took  alarm.  The  Jesuits  approved 
of  the  worship  of  ancestors,  but  the  Dominicans 
and  Franciscans  opposed  the  cult.  The  Pope 
condemned  ancestor-worship,  which  still  further 
angered  the  emperor.  From  Italy  also  came  the 
command  to  use  the  term  Heavenly  Lord  (Tien 
Chiu)  instead  of  the  term  for  Heaven  (Tien),  or 
the  Dweller  in  Heaven  (Shang  Ti).  When  it  was 
realized  at  Peking  that  there  was  an  empire 
within  an  empire,  the  emperor  was  furious,  and 
issued  an  edict  which  greatly  restricted  the  work 
of  the  missionaries.  Had  the  ancient  cult  of  an- 
cestor-homage been  winked  at,  vast  success  might 
have  been  won,  and  in  time  this  method  of  honor- 
ing the  family,  founded  on  forty  centuries  of  har- 
mony, might  have  been  as  easily  reconciled  to 
Christianity  as  are  some  of  those  notions,  still 
prevalent  in  Christian  churches,  of  which  Jesus 
knew  nothing. 

Despite  outward  conformity,  the  Chinese  in 
many  ways  clung  to  their  old  customs,  as  against 
the  novelties  introduced  by  their  conquerors. 


188 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Chinese  women  still  held  to  their  foot-binding, 
while  the  Manchu  females,  with  natural  feet,  were 
free  to  walk.  “ The  men  submitted,  the  women 
never;  the  living  yielded,  the  dead  not  at  all,” 
became  a proverb.  “Pigtail  and  ‘lily’  feet”  ex- 
pressed the  situation.  The  style  of  dress  ordered 
by  their  rulers  in  Peking  was  worn,  but  the  dead 
are  always  robed  in  the  old  Chinese  manner.  Thus 
the  natives  cherished  their  liberties,  the  women 
being,  as  ever,  the  social  conservatives. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


EAST  AND  WEST  IN  CONFLICT 

When  the  commercial  mission  sent  by  Peter 
the  Great  reached  Peking,  in  1723,  the  mighty 
emperor  Kang  Hi  lay  on  his  deathbed.  The  Czar 
had  planned  to  open  commerce  and  thus  turn  the 
stream  of  China’s  wealth,  in  the  time  of  its  great- 
est glory,  into  Russia.  Unfortunately,  the  feeling 
in  Peking  had  changed.  It  was  declared  that  all 
trade  must  be  at  the  frontiers.  Thus  Peter’s  enter- 
prise ended  in  failure.  In  1805  the  Russians 
again  attempted  to  open  trade  with  China,  but  at 
the  Great  Wall  envoys  from  the  emperor  met 
them,  announcing  that  unless  Count  Goloyken 
would  perform  the  kow-tow  he  would  not  be  re- 
ceived, whereupon  the  count  turned  back. 

A dark  day  for  the  Catholic  missionaries  began 
when  Kang  Hi  died,  for  a “new  king  arose  which 
knew  not  Joseph.”  Fearing  the  political  influence 
of  these  foreigners,  who  were  abolishing  the  most 
cherished  native  customs,  the  next  emperor,  in 
1723,  drove  the  missionaries  to  Macao,  and  for- 
bade them  on  pain  of  death  to  propagate  their 
doctrines.  Three  hundred  churches  were  destroyed, 
and  a third  of  a million  of  converts  were  left 
without  their  pastors.  A century  or  more  after- 


190 


CHINA’S  STORY 


wards  the  Chinese  paid  dearly  for  this  act  of 
spoliation. 

The  emperor  Yung  Cheng,  who  died  in  1775, 
was  wholly  opposed  to  foreigners  and  to  throw- 
ing down  of  old  barriers  which  had  kept  them 
out.  He  feared  their  presence  as  much  as  Califor- 
nia labor  unions  dread  the  influx  of  Asiatics  into 
America.  Yet  Western  nations  seemed  determined 
on  intercourse  with  the  sealed  empire.  In  1727 
the  Russians,  succeeding  in  obtaining  a permanent 
foothold  in  Peking,  opened  diplomatic  relations, 
and  set  some  of  their  young  men  to  study  the 
Chinese  language.  Envoys  from  Portugal  came 
in  the  same  year,  putting  their  credentials  directly 
into  the  hands  of  the  emperor.  It  is  from  the 
Portuguese  that  we  get  such  words  as  mandarin, 
joss  (Deus  or  God),  junk,  etc.,  which  average  Euro- 
peans think  are  Chinese  and  uneducated  Chinese 
imagine  are  European. 

Outbreaks  in  the  southwestern  provinces  took 
place,  and  another  disturbance  in  Mongolia  later. 
When  the  rebels  were  put  down,  Eastern  Turk- 
estan was  annexed  to  the  empire.  During  these 
troubles  the  Turgut  tribe  of  Buddhist,  Kalmuck 
Tartars  fled  westward  into  Russia  and  settled 
near  the  Volga  River.  Not  liking  the  military 
conscription,  which  forced  their  young  men  to 
serve  in  the  Russian  army,  they  determined,  after 
fifty  years,  to  return  to  their  original  home.  On 
January  5,  1761,  six  hundred  thousand  men, 


CHINESE  FAMILY  IN  SZECHUEN 


4 


A 


EAST  AND  WEST  IN  CONFLICT 


191 


women,  and  children  started  on  the  long  eastern 
journey.  As  with  the  Israelites  from  Egypt,  there 
was  pursuit.  Cossacks  slaughtered  thousands  of 
the  fugitives.  Marching  over  deserts  and  steppes, 
harassed  by  famine,  thirst,  hunger,  and  disease, 
besides  their  human  enemies,  they  were  reduced 
to  less  than  half  the  number  when  they  entered 
Chinese  territory.  The  great  cloud  of  dust  por- 
tended their  coming  to  the  Kalmuck  Khan,  who 
was  then  out  hunting.  In  sight  of  Lake  Tengis, 
the  fugitives  rushed  forward  to  assuage  their  tor- 
turing thirst,  only  to  be  attacked  by  the  Bashkis, 
with  nomads  of  Turkestan,  who  had  been  hang- 
ing on  their  skirts.  Hundreds  were  drowned. 
The  lake  was  reddened  by  the  blood  of  the  slain. 
Finally  rescued  by  a Chinese  army,  they  settled 
down  in  peace  and  safety.  De  Quincey,  in  his 
wonderful  style,  has  told  this  amazing  story. 

In  China  the  aboriginal  tribes,  called  Miao-tse, 
who  resisted  Chinese  culture  very  much  as  the 
North  American  Indians  refused  to  accept  our 
civilization,  were  from  time  to  time  compelled 
to  move  away  from  their  old  hunting-grounds 
and  ancestral  seats  to  the  Far  West,  there  to 
find  new  homes.  One  of  these  tribes  that  had 
settled  on  the  mountainous  borders  of  Sze-chien 
province  entrenched  themselves  in  their  fast- 
nesses and  bade  defiance  to  the  local  magistrates. 
They  resisted  all  attempts  at  taxation  or  the 
enforcement  of  Chinese  law.  They  killed  the 


192 


CHINA’S  STORY 


two  envoys  sent  by  the  emperor  Kien  Lung  and 
burnt  his  letter  in  defiance.  To  march  into  the 
region  of  the  savages  and  reduce  their  stock- 
ades, meant  for  an  army  a campaign  of  heavy 
fighting  and  arduous  toil  in  the  forests  without 
roads,  besides  constant  danger  from  ambuscade. 
The  imperial  soldiers  captured  every  stronghold 
by  assault  except  the  last  great  fortress,  which  was 
surrounded,  and  the  braves,  starved  into  submis- 
sion, were  banished  and  put  to  hard  labor  in  Hi. 
Nevertheless,  there  are  still  a few  aboriginal  tribes 
left  unconquered  in  the  inaccessible  regions  of  the 
empire.  China  has  had  for  at  least  twenty-five 
centuries  an  “ Indian  ” problem. 

Burma  was  invaded  in  1768,  because  the  Bur- 
mese border  ruffians  had  become  troublesome.  A 
treaty  of  peace  was  made  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, the  Burmans  agreeing  to  pay  to  the  court  at 
Peking  a tribute  every  three  years.  In  1790  the 
Gurkas  of  India,  invited  by  a rival  Grand  Lama, 
who  had  quarreled  with  his  brother  over  distribu- 
tion of  treasure,  invaded  Tibet,  and  the  Dalai 
Lama  asked  assistance  from  Peking.  A Chinese 
army,  marching  up  into  the  great  plateau  and  as 
far  as  the  capital  in  Nepaul,  subdued  the  Gurkas 
and  put  them  under  tribute. 

So  restless  a commercial  people  as  the  English 
were  not  likely  to  allow  their  rivals  to  have  all  the 
trade  with  China,  but  under  Queen  Elizabeth  their 
first  attempts  were  not  successful.  Some  English 


EAST  AND  WEST  IN  CONFLICT 


193 


merchants  in  the  time  of  Charles  I,  on  coming  to 
Macao,  were  hindered  by  the  Portuguese.  They 
sailed  into  the  Canton  River.  When  they  were 
passing  the  famous  batteries  of  the  Bogue,  or 
bend  of  the  stream,  the  Chinese  gunners  opened 
fire.  This  time  the  Tartars  themselves  caug[ht  a 
new  kind  of  Tartar.  The  plucky  Englishmen  first 
silenced  the  guns,  and  then  landed  a force,  cap- 
tured the  forts,  and  hoisted  their  red  flag.  The 
Peking  government  granted  the  right  to  trade, 
but  the  local  officers  at  Canton  tried  in  every  way 
to  hinder  business,  because  they  foolishly  imagined 
that  any  outflow  of  silver  impoverished  the  country. 
Most  Europeans  at  that  time  had  the  same  eco- 
nomic notions. 

In  1793  King  George  sent  Lord  Macartney 
with  many  presents  to  the  emperor  at  Peking, 
but  the  mandarins  could  not  yet  conceive  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom’s  awarding  social  or  political 
equality  to  outer  barbarians.  Unknown  to  the 
British  minister,  and  without  intending  it  as  a 
joke  or  deception,  the  Chinese  presented  a flag  of 
welcome  to  Macartney,  under  which  he  sailed  to 
Tien  Tsin.  It  was  inscribed,  and  so  the  people 
along  the  river  read  the  legend,  taking  it  as  a 
matter  of  course,  “ Tribute  - bearer  from  Eng- 
land.” In  Peking  Macartney  refused  to  kow-tow, 
or  make  the  nine  prostrations,  unless  a magistrate 
of  equal  rank  would  kneel,  and  bow  nine  times  be- 
fore a portrait  of  George  III.  Both  sides  declined 


194 


CHINA’S  STORY 


to  yield.  Finally,  not  in  the  palace,  but  in  a gar- 
den, informally,  the  British  minister  obtained  au- 
dience of  the  emperor,  but  in  reality  he  was  re- 
ceived and  treated  as  tribute-bearer  from  a vassal 
state.  Trade  was  opened  at  Canton,  but  the  Brit- 
ish foreigners  agreed  to  obey  the  local  magistrates. 
In  a word,  there  was  no  “ extra- territoriality  ” as 
yet.  The  foreigners’  place  of  business  was  called 
a “ factory.” 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  that  commerce  which 
brought  tea  to  England  in  large  quantities,  so 
that  a decoction  of  this  herb  became  not  only  a na- 
tional English,  but  a universal  British  beverage. 
Its  name,  pronounced  in  different  ways  according 
to  the  local  dialects,  at  Amoy  is  tea.  It  was  from 
this  port  that  the  ships  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany received  their  cargoes  and  sailed  for  An- 
napolis, Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston, 
where  the  Americans  refused  to  receive  it  and  de- 
stroyed or  sent  it  back,  or  let  it  mould  until  worth- 
less. “ In  this  little  Chinese  leaf  was  folded  the 
germ  which  enlarged  into  American  independ- 
ence.” 

By  this  time,  so  many  new  countries  having  been 
annexed,  and  peace  and  prosperity  having  been 
so  long  the  rule,  there  were  three,  possibly  four 
hundred  million  souls  in  the  Central  Empire. 
Nevertheless  secret  societies,  opposed  to  the  dy- 
nasty, were  still  active.  Comers  or  “ tailed  stars  ” 
have  caused  as  much  fear  and  popular  commotion 


EAST  AND  WEST  IN  CONFLICT 


195 


in  China  as  in  Europe.  When  Halley’s  comet  of 
1771  and  1910  appeared,  the  superstitious  multi- 
tude saw  in  it  a portent  of  disaster.  The  leaders 
of  the  White  Lily  Society,  taking  advantage  of 
the  popular  excitement,  began  another  rebellion. 
In  Peking  their  emissaries  twice  attempted  to  as- 
sassinate the  emperor.  The  rebellion  was  stamped 
out,  only  after  enormous  expense  in  blood  and 
treasure. 

British  trade  with  China  was  conducted  by  the 
East  India  Company,  which  had  a charter  of  mo- 
nopoly. During  the  wars  with  Napoleon,  Macao 
was  captured  and  twice  occupied  to  prevent  its 
falling  into  French  hands.  This  proceeding  greatly 
angered  the  Peking  government.  Lord  Amherst 
was  sent  out  in  1816  to  conciliate  the  Chinese  and 
arrange  matters,  but  again  misunderstandings 
arose  and  only  disaster  and  more  mutual  irritation 
were  the  results.  The  two  emperors  who  succeeded 
the  great  Kien  Lung,  ruling  from  1793  to  1821, 
and  from  1821  to  1851,  were  noted  for  their  dis- 
like of  foreigners.  In  our  colonial  days,  American 
sear-farers,  including  not  a few  picturesque  pirates, 
had  visited  China,  the  respectable  sailors  being  on 
ships  of  the  West  India  Company.  In  1784  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  were  hoisted  by  Americans  at 
Canton,  and  commerce  with  the  United  States  was 
begun.  Nearly  all  the  first  large  fortunes  made  by 
Americans  were  in  direct  trade  with  China,  or  in 
traffic  between  Oregon,  Hawaii,  and  the  Chinese 


196 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ports.  Many  town,  city,  and  country  names  in  the 
United  States  are  borrowed  from  China. 

As  the  knowledge  of  Asian  countries  proceeded 
eastward  from  India  and  came  to  us  through 
Great  Britain,  it  has  happened  that  words  of  Hin- 
doo origin  are  still  used  by  Americans.  For  many 
things  that  are  Chinese  and  Japanese  they  are, 
however,  often  bad  misfits.  It  puzzles  an  American 
in  eastern  Asia  to  find  words,  coined  thousands  of 
miles  westward,  thus  used.  Japan  and  China,  for 
example,  are  not  in  our  Far  East,  but  in  the  quite 
Near  West.  We  also  imitate  the  British  in  a most 
unfortunate  use  of  the  word  “coolie,”  which  in 
India  means  a member  of  a low  caste  and  has  in 
it  the  idea  of  religious  ban  or  hatred.  There  are 
no  coolies  in  Japan  and  hardly  any  in  China.  No 
educated  person  ought  to  apply  this  word  to  a 
Japanese  or  free  Chinese  laborer.  Even  the  fire- 
crackers, so  long  used  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  were 
at  first  called  India  crackers.  More  justifiable  in- 
stances are  the  use  of  the  word  tiffin,  meaning 
lunch ; chit,  meaning  a letter,  etc.  Other  words, 
not  a few,  taken  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  native 
servants  and  helpers,  are  absurdly  applied. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  recent  times,  educated 
Hindoos,  Chinese,  and  Japanese  have  made  effec- 
tual protest  against  the  misuse  of  certain  words 
having  sacred  associations  to  them,  but  ignorantly 
employed  by  us.  Some  of  the  uses  to  which  Orien- 
tal household  articles  in  our  country  are  put  make 


EAST  AND  WEST  IN  CONFLICT 


197 


Asiatic  travelers  laugh,  grieve,  or  blush.  They 
are  also  angered  beyond  forgiveness,  or  they  pity 
the  Christians  who  can  behave  so  brutally,  or  loot 
so  villainously,  when  away  from  home.  Some  of 
these  solecisms,  now  almost  hopelessly  fixed  in 
popular  speech  and  writings,  are  as  ridiculous  as 
those  seen  in  “ English  as  She  is  Spoke”  by  some 
Orientals.  They  remind  one  of  the  Hindoo  who 
put  a descriptive  label  in  English  on  an  idol  sup- 
posed to  be  the  chief  demon  in  the  infernal  re- 
gions. Without  offense,  and  seriously,  he  Eng- 
lished it  thus:  “The  King  of  the  Netherlands.” 
The  odd  mistakes  and  amusing  situations  into 
which  “griffins,”  as  newcomers  in  the  Far  East 
are  called,  have  fallen  would  fill  a huge  jest-book. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


TAI  PINGS  AND  TRADE  WAR 

In  1834  the  East  India  Company’s  charter  ex- 
pired. The  British  government,  assuming  control, 
sent  out  Lord  Napier  as  King  George’s  represen- 
tative, supposing  that  he  would  be  welcomed,  and 
that  China  would  feel  it  an  honor.  The  Peking 
mandarins  refused  him  audience,  insisting  that 
they  would  not  open  diplomatic  relations  with  any 
outside  nation.  Such  a proceeding  would  also  spoil 
the  lucrative  trade  of  the  Cohong,  or  company  of 
native  merchants  and  mandarins  who  had  charge 
of  the  systematic  “ squeezing,”  without  which  no 
business  in  China,  from  viceroy  to  laborer,  is  done. 
The  Chinese,  conceited  as  they  then  were,  could 
not  conceive  of  treating  with  any  other  nation  on 
equal  terms,  or  with  their  representative.  At  one 
time,  the  Japanese  were  as  inhospitable.  Lord 
Napier,  after  many  rebuffs,  insulted,  and  kept 
a virtual  prisoner  in  the  factory  at  Canton,  lost 
health,  retired  to  Macao,  and  died  there  in  1834. 

It  seemed  necessary  to  force  open  the  gates  of 
the  hermit  nation  with  gunpowder.  Matters  hav- 
ing become  acute,  two  British  frigates  had  an- 
chored in  the  Canton  River  to  protect  the  foreign 
factories.  In  1836  Captain  Charles  Elliot  was 


TAI  PINGS  AND  TRADE  WAR 


199 


sent  out,  and  ordered  to  ignore  the  Cohong  and 
deal  directly  with  the  authorities.  He  also  was 
unsuccessful,  and  retired  to  Macao.  The  Chi- 
nese now  took  high-handed  measures  against  the 
import  of  opium,  which  had  proved  itself  to  be  a 
curse  to  their  people  and  country.  When  the  Pe- 
king government  demanded  that  the  sale  of  the 
“filthy  drug”  should  be  restricted,  smuggling 
became  the  order  of  the  day.  The  Chinese  then 
determined  to  stop  the  importation  of  the  stupe- 
fying juice  of  the  poppy,  even  at  the  cost  of  war, 
and  the  court  appointed  as  imperial  commissioner 
the  stalwart  Lin.  This  conservative  and  deter- 
mined man  at  once  surrounded  the  foreign  factory 
on  the  land  side,  and  prepared  to  blockade  the 
island  and  thus  shut  off  the  aliens.  He  ordered  all 
opium  from  the  ships  to  be  put  on  shore,  and 
Captain  Elliot  yielded. 

When  a Chinese  was  killed  by  some  foreign 
sailors,  the  demand  of  Lin  for  the  particular  mur- 
derer was  for  good  reason  refused.  Lin  gave  ten 
days  to  have  the  culprit  ferreted  out  and  handed 
over  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  Chinese  law. 
This,  as  to  methods  of  trial,  prisons,  and  punish- 
ment, was  at  that  time  as  barbarous  as  had  been 
that  of  medieval  Europe.  War  now  broke  out,  and 
some  Chinese  junks  were  sunk  by  British  cannon. 
On  one  of  them,  then  or  later,  a Chinese  mandarin 
was  found  dead,  sitting  in  his  bloodstained  silk 
robes.  He  had  been  reading  a Chinese  version  of 


200 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  Four  Gospels,  to  discover  what  there  was  in  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  that  made  Christians  seem  so 
murderous. 

Although  this  is  called  the  Opium  War,  it  was 
really  a collision  between  the  ideas  of  hermits  and 
those  of  international  law,  between  the  standard 
of  a local  civilization  and  the  growing  conscience 
of  the  world.  To  these,  China  and  all  nations 
must  in  time  yield  fully.  The  forcing  of  opium 
upon  China  by  the  British  cannot  be  justified,  but 
the  opium  was  the  occasion  and  not  the  cause  of 
the  hostilities,  which  lasted  from  1840  to  1843. 

River  battles  were  fought  at  Canton  and  Amoy, 
and  some  Chinese  ports  were  blockaded.  The  Brit> 
ish  ships  appeared  in  the  north  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Pei-ho  River,  threatening  Peking.  The  forts 
on  the  Canton  River  were  again  attacked.  Terms 
of  peace  were  proposed  and  refused.  The  Bogue 
forts  were  taken.  There  were  intervals  of  peace 
and  fighting,  and  an  attack  on  the  city  of  Canton. 
Again  negotiations  were  attempted,  but  after 
their  failure,  war  was  carried  to  the  north.  Ning-po, 
Shanghai,  and  several  forts  were  captured.  The 
Chinese  with  obsolete  weapons  were  beaten. 

The  lack  of  unity  in  the  China  of  the  Manchus 
and  the  low  state  of  patriotism  were  shown  at  one 
place  when  Chinese  mandarins  entertained  the 
British  soldiers  while  the  Manchu  garrisons  were 
fighting  them.  On  August  9,  1842,  the  British 
army  reached  Nanking.  Here  the  fleets  carrying 


BASKET-CHAIR  AND  MATTING  SHOP 


TAI  PINGS  AND  TRADE  WAR 


201 


tribute  rice  to  the  capital  could  be  intercepted. 
The  imperial  government  therefore  sent  high  com- 
missioners, Manchus,  and  the  first  treaty  between 
China  and  Great  Britain  was  concluded  August 
29,  1842,  a pivotal  date  in  the  empire’s  history. 
Its  chief  points  were  the  opening  of  five  ports  — 
Canton,  Amoy,  Foochow,  Ningpo,  and  Shanghai 
— to  foreign  trade,  the  payment  of  an  indemnity 
of  twenty-one  million  dollars,  and  the  cession 
of  the  Island  of  Hong  Kong,  now  a part  of  the 
British  Empire  and  one  of  the  greatest  centres 
of  commerce  in  the  world.  Other  nations  shared 
in  the  triumph,  the  Americans  among  the  first, 
President  Polk  having  sent  out  the  Hon.  Caleb 
Cushing,  who  made  a treaty  with  China.  At  the 
treaty  ports  settlements  were  made  and  mission- 
aries began  their  Christian  labors.  Shanghai  be- 
came one  of  the  model  cities  of  the  Far  East. 

Imposed  by  force,  these  agreements  were  unpop- 
ular, and  the  first  business  of  the  Chinese  man- 
darins was  to  nullify  them  as  far  as  possible.  Riots 
broke  out  among  the  people  and  several  English- 
men were  murdered. 

In  every  old  country,  the  entrance  of  new  ideas, 
whether  commercial,  religious,  political,  or  social, 
causes  ferment.  The  first  results  are  not  encourag- 
ing, because  these  new  ideas  lead  either  to  unbal- 
anced enthusiasm  or  to  indignation  and  hatred. 
In  a protectorate  or  on  conquered  territory,  they 
fill  the  native  students  with  the  notion  of  immedi- 


202 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ate  but  impossible  independence.  In  China,  the 
Tai  Ping  rebellion  broke  out. 

A disappointed  scholar  named  Hung,  who  had 
failed  in  the  examinations,  came  into  contact  with 
Christian  truths.  Born  near  Canton  in  1813,  the 
son  of  an  emigrant  farmer  who  had  come  from  the 
north,  he  devoted  himself  to  study.  China  is  the 
land  of  the  free,  where  there  is  no  permanent  no- 
bility except  the  descendants  of  Confucius,  and 
where  any  boy  in  the  land  may  become  prime  min- 
ister, promotion  being  by  merit  and  not  by  rank 
or  birth.  The  boy  Hung  devoted  himself  to  study, 
and  thrice  attended  the  civil  service  examinations 
at  Canton,  to  get  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts 
and  later  government  employment.  His  disappoint- 
ment so  preyed  upon  his  mind  that  he  became  ill 
and  was  apparently  at  the  gates  of  death.  He  had 
a dream  in  which  first  a dragon,  then  a tiger, 
and  finally  a cock  entered  his  room.  He  saw  also 
happy  men  and  women  in  shining  robes,  who  led 
him  into  the  palace  of  Heaven.  Taken  to  a river, 
he  was  washed  and  made  clean.  His  heart  was 
taken  out,  and  he  was  given  a new  one  of  a red 
color,  his  wound  closing  without  a scar.  A vener- 
able being  put  a sword  in  his  hand  and  com- 
manded him  to  abolish  the  worship  of  evil  spirits. 

On  recovering  health  Hung  pondered  the  mean- 
ing of  this  dream,  but  could  not  at  first  interpret 
it.  He  took  out  the  Christian  tracts  which  he  had 
received,  and  studied  them.  They  seemed  to  fur- 


TAI  PINGS  AND  TRADE  WAR 


203 


nish  a key  to  the  meaning  of  his  dream.  He  put 
himself  under  the  instruction  of  a missionary,  and 
even  asked  for  baptism,  but  it  is  not  known  that 
he  was  ever  admitted  into  the  church  as  a mem- 
ber. In  a word,  he  was  never,  in  any  real  sense, 
a Christian. 

Thoroughly  convinced  of  his  divine  call.  Hung 
converted  first  his  own  household  and  then  his 
neighbors,  forming,  in  1850,  the  Shang-ti  Hwei, 
or  Society  [for  the  Worship  of]  Almighty  God. 
Their  first  acts  were  to  smash  idols  and  to  level 
temples  to  the  ground.  Starting  out  as  a purely 
religious  movement,  this  became,  almost  of  neces- 
sity, political.  When  the  Peking  government, 
fearing  that  the  movement  might  become  revolu- 
tionary, sent  two  mandarins  to  suppress  it  with 
force,  the  followers  of  Hung  declared  open  rebel- 
lion. Being  southern  Chinamen,  they  almost  as  a 
matter  of  course  raised  the  cry,  “ Exterminate  the 
Manchus ! ” When  the  rebels  seized  town  after 
town,  tens  of  thousands,  incited  by  the  hope  of 
plunder,  followed  the  banners  inscribed  with 
characters  meaning  Heavenly  Father,  Heavenly 
Elder  Brother,  Heavenly  King  of  the  Great  Peace 
(Tai  Ping),  Dynasty  of  the  Heavenly  Kingdom 
(China),  etc.  When  they  gave  up  shaving  the 
front  part  of  their  heads,  cut  off  their  queues, 
and  let  their  hair  grow,  they  were  called  the 
“ Long-Haired  Rebels.” 

It  being  difficult  to  feed  so  large  an  army, 


204 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Hung  marched  north,  capturing  cities  as  he  went. 
At  Chang-sha  he  received  his  first  severe  check 
and  lost  eighty  days  in  vainly  trying  to  take  this 
city.  The  rebels  moved  into  the  Yang-tse  valley, 
taking  four  large  cities  by  storm.  In  March,  1853, 
they  captured  Nanking,  which,  after  a horrible 
massacre  of  its  people,  was  made  the  capital  of 
the  new  dynasty. 

Hung,  claiming  to  be  the  brother  of  Christ, 
having  taken  the  personal  title  of  Heavenly  King 
and  the  name  of  Heavenly  Virtue  for  his  reign, 
sent  forth  a Book  of  Celestial  Decrees,  which  he 
declared  contained  the  revelations  given  to  him 
by  God  the  Heavenly  Father  and  by  Christ  his 
Celestial  Brother.  Proclaimed  as  emperor  of 
China,  and  surrounded  by  his  army  of  eighty 
thousand  men,  which  was  ever  increasing,  he  ap- 
pointed four  assistant  “ kings,”  of  the  North, 
South,  East,  and  West,  to  help  in  ruling  the  em- 
pire. He  depended  upon  his  brave  and  able  gen- 
eral Chung  for  success  in  the  field  of  war. 

Now  came  the  reaction  so  often  seen  in  the  ca- 
reer of  such  men,  who  have  risen  high  and  fallen 
low.  Leaving  the  actual  direction  of  affairs  in  the 
hands  of  his  subordinates.  Hung,  who  probably 
never  knew  by  any  real  experience  of  life  what  it 
is  to  be  a Christian,  gave  himself  up  to  unbridled 
license  and  apparently  lost  all  energy.  Some  for- 
eigners, including  missionaries  (with  whom  the 
writer  has  talked  concerning  their  adventures), 


TAI  PINGS  AND  TRADE  WAR 


205 


who  cherished  hopes  that  the  movement  promised 
a new  and  better  life  for  China,  visited  Hung  at 
his  court.  Their  eyes  were  opened  when  they  saw 
the  disorder  and  fanaticism  of  the  rebels.  All 
ideas  of  the  regeneration  of  China  through  the 
Tai  Pings  were  dispelled. 

In  March,  1853,  a rebel  army  tried  to  seize  the 
city  of  Kai  Feng  and  failed.  Repulsed  also  from 
Tien  Tsin,  they  retreated  to  Nanking.  Li  Hung 
Chang,  afterwards  known  to  the  world,  now  ap- 
peared on  the  stage.  Raising  a regiment  of  mili- 
tia, he  harassed  the  rear-guard  of  the  rebels,  and 
for  this  success  was  introduced  to  imperial  favor. 
The  government  troops  regained  their  courage, 
retook  several  cities,  and  put  a new  face  upon 
affairs.  The  Tai  Pings  were  now  confined  to  the 
Yang-tse  valley. 

Meanwhile  the  sixth  Manchu  Emperor,  ruling 
from  Peking,  Tai  Kwang,  who  had  held  the 
sceptre  since  1821,  died  after  a reign  of  thirty 
years  and  was  succeeded  by  Hien  Feng,  who  was 
to  enjoy  or  suffer  during  eleven  troublous  years 
the  duties  of  his  high  station. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG 

The  attention  both  of  the  Peking  government 
and  of  foreigners  was  now  turned  from  the  Long- 
Haired  Rebels,  for  the  Peking  mandarins  were 
being  forced  to  keep  treaty  stipulations.  As  on 
another  continent,  the  dogma  had  been  taught  in 
Asia,  — “no  faith  to  be  kept  with  the  heretics.’’ 
Now  the  Chinese  were  to  suffer  for  breaking  sol- 
emn promises.  At  this  time  there  appeared  on 
the  scene  a new  person,  Harry  Parkes,  who  not 
only  was  destined  to  play  the  great  part  of  a 
strong  and  brave  man,  in  forcing  the  Manchu 
government  to  tell  the  truth,  keep  faith,  be  hon- 
est, and  learn  to  hate  treachery  as  an  abominable 
thing,  but  who  also  assisted  by  his  indomitable 
firmness  and  penetration  of  shams  to  temper  the 
Japanese  to  new  ideals.^  Parkes  taught  two  na- 

^ I knew  Sir  Harry  Parkes  intimately  during  my  stay  in  the 
Far  East,  from  1870  to  1874,  besides  many  others,  Americans, 
Europeans,  and  Chinese,  who  in  China  at  this  time  saw  both  the 
British  war  operations  and  the  Tai  Pings  ; and  a goodly  number 
of  those  who  were  later  prominent  and  active  in  the  Far  East. 
From  this  point,  I can  speak  as  one  who  heard  much  from  living 
witnesses,  both  Chinese  and  foreign,  who,  besides  being  scholars, 
were,  during  part  of  the  events,  near  the  scene  of  their  occur- 


rence. 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  207 


tions  that  the  best  way  to  “save  face”  was  to 
practice  “truth  in  the  inward  parts.” 

While  matters  were  in  a state  of  tension  and 
the  question  whether  the  Chinese  would  keep  their 
contracts  was  unsettled,  “the  Arrow  affair” 
precipitated  war.  At  Hong  Kong,  the  British 
governor  had,  with  certain  provisos,  allowed 
Chinese  vessels  to  sail  under  the  British  flag. 
With  a European  hull  and  Chinese  rigging,  such 
a vessel,  the  Arrow,  for  example,  was  called  a 
lorcha.  While  she  was  lying  at  Whampoa,  in  the 
autumn  of  1856,  a Chinese  mandarin  came  on 
board,  hauled  down  the  British  flag,  and  carried 
off  twelve  of  the  crew  as  prisoners  to  a Chinese 
man-of-war. 

At  once  Parkes  wrote  to  Commissioner  Yeh 
demanding  apology  for  the  insult  to  the  British 
flag  and  the  return  of  the  twelve  men  to  the  ship, 
Yeh  began  the  tactics  of  evasion,  denial,  and 
controversy.  He  finally  proposed  to  send  back 
nine  men,  but  ignored  the  demand  for  an  apo- 
logy, Parkes  refused.  Yeh  delayed,  and  war  pre- 
parations on  the  part  of  the  British  began. 

An  outsider,  neither  British  nor  Chinese,  in 
order  to  get  at  the  truth,  need  not  trouble  him- 
self overmuch  as  to  what  were  the  exact  provoca- 
tions on  either  side.  It  is  more  important  to 
study  principles  behind  the  events.  The  Arrow 
affair  was  not  the  cause,  but  only  the  occasion,  of 
the  war.  On  the  one  hand  were  Chinese,  who 


208 


CHINA’S  STORY 


looked  with  contempt  upon  all  foreigners  as  of 
an  inferior  race,  because  they  had  not  the  Con- 
fucian  culture.  Such  persons,  therefore,  were  not 
to  be  treated  with  respect  or  on  equal  terms.  To 
the  Chinese,  Western  civilization,  based  as  they 
believed  it  to  be  chiefly  on  shopkeeping  and  mar- 
kets, on  trade  and  machine-shops,  and  on  war 
and  lawless  rapacity,  even  to  the  forcing  of  a 
poisonous  drug  upon  China,  was  little  better  than 
that  of  barbarism,  and  in  their  dense  ignorance 
they  refused  to  be  enlightened.  Furthermore,  in 
all  their  own  dealings  with  aliens  or  natives,  it 
was  not  reality  which  they  sought.  Their  first 
and  last  idea  was  to  “ save  face.”  The  average 
mandarin  would  often  rather  lose  his  head  than 
to  “ lose  face.”  “ They  cannot  progress  in  civiliza- 
tion until  they  become  truthful,”  is  the  verdict  of 
their  great  friend.  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,  con- 
cerning the  Chinese. 

To  some  students,  however,  it  was  even  then 
evident  that  China’s  doctrine  of  universal  sov- 
ereignty must  be  blown  to  atoms  before  there  was 
much  hope  of  progress,  or  of  freedom  for  such 
nations  as  Japan  and  Korea,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  prospects  of  peaceful  intercourse  on  equal 
terms  with  the  nations  of  Europe  and  America. 
Harry  Parkes  was  only  too  ready  to  deal  the 
hoary  doctrine  a staggering  blow. 

Apart  from  his  firmness  and  other  traits  of 
character,  Parkes  knew,  more  than  most  men  of 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  209 


that  time,  how  the  Chinese  thought  and  felt.  He 
had  come  to  China  when  but  a boy  of  thirteen, 
and  had  been  set  to  work  by  Mr.  Gutzlaff,  his 
uncle,  to  study  the  written  language.  This  Ger- 
man gentleman  would  not  let  his  nephew  have  his 
breakfast  until  he  had  learned  a certain  number 
of  characters.  In  playing  with  Chinese  boys, 
Parkes  learned  the  spoken  language  perfectly 
and  became  master  of  Chinese  etiquette.  He 
was  a loyal  Englishman,  on  whose  heart  it  was 
written,  “ Make  England  great.”  A high  Japa- 
nese officer  once  said  of  Parkes,  “ He  was  the  only 
one  among  the  foreign  ministers  that  I could  not 
twist  round  my  little  finger.”  Firmness  was  his 
chief  characteristic,  and  the  want  of  it  had  al- 
ready been  aptly  illustrated  in  the  weaker  per- 
sonality of  certain  British  envoys  in  China.  The 
Chinese  roused  a lion  when  they  played  falsely 
with  Parkes.  He  knew  every  one  of  their  tricks, 
could  foil  them  at  every  enterprise,  rip  open  their 
hypocrisy,  and  beat  them  in  every  move  at  their 
own  game.  None  more  frankly  or  generously  than 
he  could  welcome  and  meet  every  honest  proposal 
or  appreciate  a just  action. 

It  was  common  for  brutal  Europeans  in  walk- 
ing through  the  crowded  streets  to  beat  people  with 
their  canes  over  the  head,  and  at  home  to  whip 
their  Chinese  servants.  Drunken  sailors  violated 
all  the  rules  of  decency,  while  the  licentiousness 
of  many  of  the  foreign  residents  was  startling. 


210 


CHINA’S  STORY 


The  Chinese  had  other  reasons  for  hating  for- 
eigners. The  Portuguese  at  Macao  conducted  a 
traffic  which  was  only  slightly  less  abominable 
than  the  African  slave-trade.  They  kidnapped 
Chinese  and  sent  them  off,  on  the  forced  contract 
system,  to  work  in  California,  Cuba,  and  Peru. 
Then  also,  although  dealing  in  opium  had  been 
declared  illegal,  the  drug  was  smuggled  into 
China,  and  often  by  men  in  ships  of  the  Arrow 
class,  which  had  a certain  protection  under  a for- 
eign flag.  All  these  things  fed  the  fires  of  hate 
among  the  Chinese,  to  whom  all  aliens  seemed 
frightful,  ugly,  brutish,  ill-smelling,  or  undesirable 
people. 

In  the  war  which  soon  opened,  the  Bogue  forts 
were  once  again  captured.  Canton  was  bom- 
barded, and  the  Y'amen,  or  official  house  of  Com- 
missioner Yeh,  was  destroyed  by  shells.  The 
British  had  not  force  enough  to  hold  the  city, 
and  its  evacuation  by  them  made  the  Chinese  be- 
lieve that  their  enemy  had  been  beaten.  Becom- 
ing more  defiant,  a price  was  set  on  British 
heads,  the  factories  outside  Canton  were  burned, 
and  several  Europeans  put  to  death.  The  Chi- 
nese chief  baker  of  the  Hong  Kong  colony,  at 
official  instigation,  put  arsenic  in  the  morning  sup- 
ply of  bread  to  poison  all  the  foreigners,  but  he 
failed  because  he  had  sprinkled  too  much  in  his 
flour. 

There  has  never  been  a war  between  the  United 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  211 


States  and  China,  but  during  the  Parkes-Yeh 
controversy  American  steamers  were  twice  fired 
upon  when  passing  the  barrier  forts  near  Canton, 
and  an  American  sailor  was  killed.  In  those 
days  the  average  Chinese  knew  little  about  for- 
eign flags.  Still  it  seemed  necessary  to  teach 
ignorant  mandarins  that  all  foreigners  were  not 
opium-smugglers,  and  that  peaceful  neutrals  had 
rights.  Commodore  Armstrong,  in  command  of 
the  United  States  men-of-war  San  Jacinto,  Ports- 
mouth, and  Levant,  ordered  Captain  (afterwards 
Rear  Admiral)  Foote  to  capture  and  destroy  the 
forts.  These  were  built  of  granite  and  mounted 
large  cannon. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  the  heavy  steam  fri- 
gate San  Jacinto  moved  up  the  river,  but  could  not 
get  near  enough  to  use  her  guns,  so  the  little  Ameri- 
can steamer  Willamette  towed  the  sailing  sloop-of- 
war  Portsmouth,  which,  under  the  Chinese  fire  of 
grape  and  round  shot,  got  into  position.  At  first  the 
broadside  guns  of  the  Portsmouth  sent  a rain  of 
eight-inch  shells  inside  the  fort,  but  soon  the  cur- 
rent caught  the  ship  and  swung  her  round  stern- 
wise  to  the  fort.  The  danger  of  a raking  fire  was 
great.  Foote  ran  out  a gun  from  the  stern  port 
and  fought  until  dark. 

Several  days  were  consumed  in  diplomacy. 
Then  on  the  21st  the  U.  S.  S.  Levant,  a sailing 
ship,  towed  by  the  egg-shell  launch  Kum  Fa,  after 
an  hour’s  cannonade  silenced  one  fort.  A storm- 


212 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ing  party  of  four  hundred  American  marines  and 
sailors,  in  boats  towed  by  the  Kum  Fa,  moved  up 
the  river  under  a hot  fire.  One  cannon  shot  struck 
the  launch  of  the  San  Jacinto  and  killed  three 
men.  Disembarking,  our  men  started  over  the 
muddy  rice-fields  in  the  face  of  grape,  ball,  jingal- 
shot,  rockets,  and  big  feathered  bamboo  arrows, 
six  feet  long  and  shot  out  of  guns.  Happily  for  the 
Americans  the  Chinese,  though  they  stood  to  their 
guns  nobly  in  the  fight,  fired  too  high.  When  our 
men  entered  the  fort  the  garrison  broke  and  ran. 

About  three  hundred  Chinese  were  struck  by 
shot,  shell,  or  bullets.  Our  loss  was  seven  killed 
and  twenty-two  wounded.  In  the  fort  were  found 
176  guns,  one  a brass  monster  of  eight-inch  bore, 
twenty-two  feet  long  and  three  feet  in  diameter 
at  the  breech. 

Nevertheless  this  was  not  considered  war,  nor 
did  any  reason  exist  for  the  disturbance  of  good 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  China. 
Commissioner  Yeh  neither  apologized  nor  showed 
any  feeling  over  the  episode.  American  honor  was 
vindicated,  and  Yeh’s  own  words  closed  the  inci- 
dent when  he  said:  — 

“ There  is  no  matter  of  strife  between  our  re- 
spective nations.  Henceforth,  let  the  fashion  of 
the  flags  which  American  ships  employ  be  clearly 
defined,  and  inform  me  what  it  is  beforehand. 
This  will  be  the  verification  of  the  friendly  rela- 
tions  which  exist  between  the  two  countries.*’ 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  213 


In  this  spirit  China  has  ever  acted,  and  the  Cen- 
tral Empire  and  the  Country  of  the  Flowery  Flag 
have  ever  been  at  peace.  In  1900  the  American  Ad- 
miral, Louis  Kempff,  refused  to  join  with  the  allied 
nations  in  making  war  on  China.  When  the  sol- 
diers of  the  United  States  and  of  China  first  met 
in  hostile  array,  the  war  had  been  provoked  by 
Europeans. 

The  British  government  ordered  a fleet  of 
transports  with  five  thousand  troops  to  China,  but 
the  Sepoy  mutiny  breaking  out  in  India,  Lord 
Elgin,  the  High  Commissioner,  diverted  these  re- 
inforcements to  India,  where  they  did  great  ser- 
vice, and  a new  expedition  was  sent  from  England. 
Meanwhile  the  entire  fleet  of  Chinese  war-junks 
had  been  destroyed.  The  French  — these  being 
the  days  of  Napoleon  III  — joined  the  British  in 
hostilities,  making  a force  of  20,000  men.  Canton 
was  again  assaulted  and  taken,  and  Commissioner 
Yeh  captured.  He  was  sent  as  an  exile  to  Calcutta, 
where  after  two  years  he  ended  his  days. 

Yeh  was  the  man  who,  when  asked  why  he  never 
read  anything  about  foreign  men  or  countries, 
made  answer  that  he  had  already  digested  the 
contents  of  all  the  books  in  the  world  worth 
reading.  In  a word,  nothing  except  the  Chinese 
classics  were  worth  the  attention  of  a man  of  edu- 
cation. Canton  was  ruled  three  years  by  a British 
commission,  without  the  usual  “ squeezes  ” of  the 
mandarins. 


214 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Lord  Elgin,  foiled  in  his  polite  attempts  to 
open  negotiations  with  the  Peking  government, 
sailed  with  the  combined  British  and  French  fleets 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Pei-ho  River,  capturing  the 
Taku  forts,  and  then  moving  on  to  Tien  Tsin. 
There  the  two  peace  commissioners  on  behalf  of 
the  emperor  met  him.  A treaty  in  fifty-six  articles 
was  signed,  June  26,  1858,  by  which  the  Chinese 
agreed  to  receive  a resident  British  minister  at  the 
court  of  Peking,  to  open  five  new  ports  to  com- 
merce, to  allow  British  trading  in  the  Yang-tse 
River,  to  permit  foreigners  to  travel  in  the  inte- 
rior, and  to  tolerate  the  Christian  religion,  besides 
paying  four  million  taels  for  the  expenses  of  the 
war.  When  the  tariff  was  revised,  to  the  shame  of 
Great  Britain,  since  often  confessed,  the  opium 
traffic  was  legalized.  This  proved  in  the  end  to  be 
a more  terrible  curse  to  China  even  than  war,  for 
henceforth  instead  of  cultivating  the  earth  for  food, 
the  Chinese,  especially  in  Yunnan,  began  to  raise 
the  poppy.  Native  opium  now  debauched  and  im- 
poverished the  people  and  helped  to  produce  fam- 
ines. 

It  was  now  to  be  seen  whether  the  Chinese 
would  hold  faithfully  to  the  treaty.  Next  year  Sir 
Frederick  Bruce,  with  the  French,  Russian,  and 
American  ministers,  arrived  at  Shanghai,  but  the 
imperial  mandarins  sent  word  to  them  not  to  come 
to  Peking.  They  determined  to  go.  The  Chinese 
proposed  to  the  ministers  to  land  further  up  the 


I 


t 


Most  of  the  Cliinese  in  the  United  States  come  from  Canton 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  215 


coast,  at  Pehtang,  and  to  be  escorted  overland  to 
Peking.  In  other  words,  they  were  invited  to  fol- 
low the  time-honored  road  by  which  the  tribute- 
bearers,  coming  from  petty  and  subject  countries, 
traveled.  The  envoys  refused,  demanding  rights 
which  any  civilized  nation  would  have  yielded. 

The  war  dogs  were  let  loose  again.  On  the  night 
of  June  23  the  British,  moving  to  attack  the 
Taku  forts,  found  the  stream  was  blocked  by  bar- 
riers of  great  stakes  held  together  with  heavy  iron 
chains.  One  of  the  booms  was  blown  up  during 
the  night,  and  the  next  morning  Admiral  Hope, 
with  his  thirteen  vessels,  tried  to  force  the  pas- 
sage. This  time,  however,  the  walls  were  stronger 
and  mounted  with  heavier  cannon.  The  Chinese 
gunners  had  the  exact  range,  which  was  very 
short,  and  quickly  sank  two  British  gunboats. 
When  the  British  landed  a force  to  capture  the 
forts  from  the  rear,  the  men  got  stuck  in  the  mud, 
while  the  Chinese  artillery  played  upon  them  with 
grape  and  canister.  After  terrible  loss,  they  had 
to  give  up  and  retreat. 

An  American  commodore,  Josiah  Tatnall,  was 
at  this  time  in  Chinese  waters.  He  was  the  same 
officer  who,  during  the  Mexican  War,  with  the  two 
little  gunboats  Spitfire  and  Vixen,  towing  a line 
of  “mosquito  boats,”  steamed  to  within  eighty 
yards  of  a mighty  stone  fortress  at  Vera  Cruz. 
His  object  was  to  divert  the  fire  of  the  castle  from 
our  naval  battery,  built  by  Captain  Robert  E. 


216 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Lee  and  mounted  with  the  ships’  guns  from  Com- 
modore Perry’s  squadron.  Tatnall  held  his  place 
for  half  an  hour  in  a furious  cannonade  agfainst 
walls  that  were  many  feet  thick  and  armed  with 
ordnance,  one  shell  from  which,  if  it  had  hit  any- 
thing, could  have  blown  both  gun  and  mosquito 
boats  out  of  the  water.  Covered  with  clouds  of 
spray,  Tatnall  was  called  away  by  Commodore 
Perry,  when  he  saw  the  castle  gunners  improving 
their  range.  Although  Tatnall  obeyed,  he  stormed 
with  chagrin,  not  liking  to  retreat  without  bloody 
decks.  To  his  men,  all  wet  with  the  spray,  he  said, 
‘‘War  shortens  life,  but  it  broadens  it.” 

Now,  in  China,  Tatnall  was  about  to  convey 
our  minister,  Mr.  W ard,  in  the  chartered  steamer 
Toeywan  into  the  river.  Of  necessity  he  remained 
on  his  ship  outside  the  bar,  a spectator  and  neu- 
tral. But  when  he  saw  the  sinking  British  ships, 
the  silenced  guns,  the  flag-vessel  Plover  drifting 
a helpless  wreck,  with  nearly  all  her  men  killed  or 
disabled,  and  the  admiral  wounded,  only  the  one 
bow  gun  gallantly  served  by  a weary  squad,  be- 
sides eighty-nine  killed  and  three  hundred  and 
forty-five  men  of  the  fleet  wounded,  the  American 
commodore  could  stand  it  no  longer. 

It  was  not  in  him  to  see  men  of  the  same  blood 
and  language  as  his  own  thus  badly  cut  up  by  the 
Chinese.  He  ordered  his  cutter,  and  in  the  thick 
of  the  fight  passed  through  the  fleet  and  the  hell 
of  fire  to  visit  and  cheer  the  British  admiral  and 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  217 


to  offer  him  the  services  of  the  American  surgeon. 
A round  shot  from  the  Chinese  fort  struck  and 
shattered  the  stern  of  his  boat,  killing  the  cox- 
swain. This  only  roused  the  fighting  blood  of  the 
American  sailors  and  their  chief  to  the  hottest. 
When  he  reached  the  stern  of  the  Plover,  the  sur- 
prised British  officer  asked  him,  as  he  stepped 
aboard,  why  he  had  come. 

Tatnall’s  reply  has  become  classic.  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  in  one  of  his  poems,  quoted  the  old  Scotch 
proverb,  “ Blood  is  warmer  than  water.”  Tatnall 
gave  the  answer,  “ Blood  is  thicker  than  water,” 
and  asked  if  he  could  aid  the  wounded.  Mean- 
while the  American  sailors  rowed  round  to  the  bow 
of  the  Plover  and  clambered  on  board.  Giving 
their  British  sailor  mates  a rest,  they  loaded  and 
fired  the  bow  gun  for  a round  or  two,  until  Tat- 
nall, finding  out  what  they  were  doing,  ordered 
them  off.  He  roared  with  his  voice,  but  he  shot 
approval  out  of  his  eyes,  and  his  men  understood. 

Tatnall’s  excuse  for  a technical  violation  of  in- 
ternational law,  for  which  the  Chinese  as  yet 
cared  nothing,  was  expressed  in  a phrase  and  a 
sentiment  destined  to  strengthen  and  deepen  as 
the  years  flow  on.  With  equal  humanity,  Tatnall 
offered  the  services  of  his  surgeons  to  aid  the 
wounded  Chinese.  His  offer  was  declined.  At  that 
time,  neither  the  Chinese  government  nor  possibly 
the  black-haired  race  was  particularly  interested 
in  saving  lives  endangered  in  war.  Indeed,  the 


218 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Chinese  government  then  had  no  consuls  or  min- 
isters abroad,  and  paid  no  attention  to  its  people 
who  left  China  to  go  into  other  countries.  Every 
emigrant  was  reckoned  as  a foreigner  or  a dead 
man.  Until  the  present  century,  a hospital  corj3s 
in  war  was  not  thought  of.  Every  man  took  his 
chances. 

Mr.  W ard,  the  American  minister,  went  to  Peh- 
tang,  the  place  appointed  by  the  Chinese,  and  was 
escorted  by  soldiers  to  Peking,  but  he  refused  to 
make  the  kow-tow.  Without  seeing  the  emperor, 
he  exchanged  ratifications  outside  the  capital  at 
Pehtang. 

To  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of  the  repulse  at  the 
Taku  forts,  an  army  of  thirteen  thousand  British, 
chiefly  Indian  troops,  and  seven  thousand  French, 
gathered  to  punish  the  Peking  mandarins.  The 
plan  was  to  take  Pehtang  first  and  then  attack 
the  Taku  forts  from  the  rear,  — a plan  which  upset 
Chinese  calculations.  In  battle  on  land,  the  Sikh 
lancers  from  India,  in  a terrible  charge,  beat 
the  Tartar  cavalry.  At  the  second  attack  on  the 
Taku  forts,  the  native  gunners  bravely  stood  to 
their  work  inside,  while  laborers,  hired  in  Canton, 
helped  the  allies  to  place  scaling  ladders  on  the 
walls  of  the  fort ! The  Chinese  had  race  pride,  but 
patriotism  was  not  yet.  After  one  fort  had  been 
taken,  the  other  four  forts  soon  hoisted  the  white 
flag.  The  way  was  open  and  the  fleet  advanced  up 
the  river. 


THE  ARROW  AND  FLOWERY  FLAG  219 


Then  began  the  march  on  Peking,  during  which 
both  Mr.  Parkes  and  Mr.  Loch  discovered  an 
ambuscade  of  eighty  thousand  Chinese  troops 
around  the  camp-ground  proposed  for  the  allies. 
Parkes  and  thirty-four  men  were  taken  prisoners 
and  confined  with  the  lowest  criminals  in  Peking. 
Again  a battle  was  fought.  The  Tartar  horsemen 
behaved  splendidly,  but  were  compelled  to  retreat 
before  the  Sikh  lancers.  One  more  battle  was 
fought,  in  which  the  Chinese  were  beaten,  the 
French  being  conspicuously  brave. 

The  Manchu  Emperor  fled,  and  his  brother. 
Prince  Kung,  was  left  to  arrange  terms.  He  too 
disappeared.  Then  to  show  that  punishment  was 
to  be  meted  out,  not  upon  the  Chinese  people  but 
upon  the  rulers,  the  imperial  palace  was  given 
up  to  sack  and  loot.  The  British  and  French 
troops,  after  loading  themselves  with  all  that  they 
could  carry,  ran  riot  in  smashing  and  damaging 
everything  that  was  portable.  This  brought  Prince 
Kung  to  terms.  He  released  all  that  were  liv- 
ing of  the  thirty-four  prisoners,  eleven  in  number, 
who  had  survived  the  tortures  suffered  in  prison. 
In  vengeance  for  the  men  thus  barbarously  mur- 
dered, Lord  Elgin  ordered  the  Summer  Palace  to 
be  burned  to  the  ground.  The  stripes  fell  on  the 
right  back. 


CHAPTER  XX 


PEACE  UNDER  HEAVEN 

Prince  Rung  persuaded  the  court  to  open 
peace  negotiations.  The  treaty  of  Tien  Tsin  was 
ratified  and  a new  one  signed  in  the  Hall  of 
Ceremonies,  October  22,  1860.  It  provided  for 
an  indemnity  of  eighty  thousand  taels,  permission 
for  Chinese  subjects  to  emigrate,  the  opening  of 
Tien  Tsin  as  a treaty  port,  and  the  enlarging  of 
Hong  Kong  by  the  annexation  of  Kowlun. 

All  this,  humiliating  as  it  was,  was  little,  as 
compared  with  one  provision  in  the  French  treaty. 
This  stipulated  that  the  Chinese  government 
should  pay  an  indemnity  for  all  churches,  build- 
ings, and  land  which  a century  or  two  before  had 
belonged  to  the  native  Christians,  and  that  the 
money  should  be  paid  to  the  French  envoy  at 
Peking.  This  occasioned  the  greatest  difficulty 
and  confusion,  and  was  the  seed  of  much  trouble 
in  the  future,  because  most  of  the  property  had 
long  before  passed  into  the  ownership  of  those 
who  had  honestly  bought  it.  In  the  Chinese  draft 
of  the  French  treaty  was  another  clause  permit- 
ting the  missionaries  to  buy  land,  erect  buildings, 
and  reside  in  the  interior. 

Winter  coming  on,  the  allies  left  for  Shanghai. 


PEACE  UNDER  HEAVEN 


221 


Prince  Kung  could  not  persuade  his  imperial  mas- 
ter to  return  to  Peking,  and  shortly  after  this 
the  emperor  died,  leaving  Tung  Chi,  a child  four 
years  of  age,  the  heir  apparent.  Now  the  danger 
was  that  the  court,  having  returned  to  Peking, 
should  be  controlled  in  the  interests  of  the  anti- 
foreign  party.  Prince  Kung  therefore  made  an 
arrangement  with  the  two  empresses,  the  mother 
and  the  dowager,  and  seizing  control  of  power, 
arrested  and  put  to  death  the  leaders  of  the  anti- 
foreign  party.  Then  he  and  the  empress  dowager 
ruled  the  empire.  This  was  the  time -honored 
method  of  procedure  in  an  Asiatic  country,  when 
there  is  no  national  legislature.  It  was  much  the 
same  in  meaning  as  moving  a vote  of  censure,  but 
the  method  was  different  from  that  of  the  British 
Parliament  or  the  American  Congress.  Unanim- 
ity of  opinion  was  secured  by  removing  the  heads 
of  those  who  differed.  Very  much  the  same  thing 
was  done  in  Japan,  about  the  same  time,  by  the 
premier  li,  and  later  by  clan  leaders.  In  Korea 
the  reformers  of  1875  followed  a similar  pro- 
gramme. 

The  Chinese  now  began  to  recognize  the  fact 
that  Western  nations  must  be  treated  decently. 
A department  of  foreign  affairs,  called  the  Tsung-li 
Yamen,  was  created.  Of  its  three  members.  Prince 
Kung  was  the  head.  It  was  now  possible  for  for- 
eign envoys  to  meet  Chinese  officers  regularly  for 
the  transaction  of  business. 


222 


CHINA’S  STORY 


The  war  with  the  Europeans  had  drawn  away 
the  imperial  troops  to  the  north.  The  Long- 
Haired  Rebels  had  become  more  active  and  had 
captured  several  other  cities.  When  the  govern- 
ment forces  surrounded  Nanking,  the  Tai  Ping 
general,  Chung,  defeated  them  in  a great  battle 
with  a loss  of  five  thousand  men.  City  after  city 
was  captured,  until  the  Long  Hairs  occupied  the 
whole  peninsula  between  the  Yang-tse  River  and 
Hang  Chow  Bay. 

The  viceroys  of  the  two  great  provinces  had 
asked  foreign  assistance  against  the  Tai  Pings, 
but  thus  far  in  vain.  In  Shanghai,  a native  patri- 
otic association,  taking  the  advice  of  Li  Hung 
Chang,  then  a province  governor,  engaged  two 
Americans,  Ward  and  Burge  vine,  to  organize  a 
force  of  foreigners  to  fight  the  rebels.  Burgevine 
soon  quarreled  with  the  mandarins.  Ward  organ- 
ized a force  of  two  hundred  men  and  captured 
one  city,  but  in  his  attack  on  a second  was  wounded. 
When  the  Tai  Pings  attacked  Shanghai,  they 
were  easily  driven  away  by  foreign  troops  firing 
from  the  walls. 

Ward  recovered  from  his  wound,  but  as  the 
Shang-hai  authorities  wished  neutrality  to  be  pre- 
served, he  was  not  allowed  to  employ  any  but  na- 
tive troops.  He  therefore  selected  foreign  officers 
and  organized  the  nucleus  of  what  afterwards 
was  called  the  Ever  Victorious  Army,  which  Gor- 
don, the  Englishman,  enlarged  and  led.  Under 


PEACE  UNDER  HEAVEN 


223 


Ward  these  Chinese  became  seasoned  veterans 
and  won  many  victories  over  the  rebels.  The 
British  commanders,  finding  that  the  policy  of 
neutrality  had  been  a mistake,  agreed  to  clear 
the  country  of  rebels  within  a radius  of  thirty 
miles  around  Shang-hai.  This  was  done  by  the 
end  of  1862;  but  meanwhile  in  September  Ward 
had  been  killed  in  battle  near  Ningpo.  After  vari- 
ous changes  and  troubles,  Gordon  took  the  army 
organized  by  Ward  and  divided  it  into  five  regi- 
ments of  infantry  and  one  of  artillery,  increasing 
it  to  about  three  thousand  men. 

Between  civil  strife  and  foreign  troubles,  the 
emperor  Hien  Fung  died  and  the  little  boy  Tung 
Chi,  who  did  not  end  his  minority  until  1873,  was 
proclaimed  ruler  of  China,  the  regents  at  Peking 
carrying  on  the  government. 

War  was  carried  on  by  stratagem  as  well  as  by 
strategy.  Before  Tai  Tsang,  besieged  by  the  gov- 
ernment army,  some  rebels  in  the  city  shaved  off 
the  front  of  their  heads,  and,  making  queues,  pre- 
tended to  be  imperialists  by  choice.  They  offered 
to  lead  the  attacking  force  inside  of  the  gates,  but 
as  soon  as  these  were  opened,  the  rebels  within 
slaughtered  the  entire  imperial  force  thus  enticed 
inside.  Gordon,  however,  succeeded  later  in  cap- 
turing Tai  Tsang.  When  a mutiny  broke  out  be- 
cause the  soldiers  loaded  with  plunder  refused  to 
march,  Gordon’s  firnmess  saved  the  day.  In  a 
second  case  of  insubordination,  he  had  the  ring- 


224 


CHINA’S  STORY 


leaders  pulled  out  and  shot.  After  that,  discipline 
was  maintained. 

It  was  not  only  in  severity  of  rule,  but  in  the 
simple  matter  of  telling  the  truth,  that  the  ideas 
of  Gordon,  a typical  Englishman  and  man  of 
honor,  came  into  contact  with  medieval  and  sav- 
age notions,  which  were  less  Chinese  than  they 
were  of  the  ancient  world.  Yet  while  this  is  so, 
the  incident  illustrates  the  need  of  interpreters 
and  of  men  understanding  one  another.  Su  Chow 
was  difficult  to  capture,  but  inside  the  city  there 
was  division  of  council.  The  rebel  chiefs  agreed 
to  surrender,  on  receiving  what  they  understood 
to  be  a promise  that  their  lives  would  be  spared. 
But  Gordon  could  not  talk  Chinese,  or  the  rebels 
English.  Gordon  supposed  that  Li  Hung  Chang 
assented.  As  soon  as  the  city  had  surrendered, 
the  rebel  leaders  were  invited  to  meet  Li  Hung 
Chang,  but  they  came  in  swaggering,  and  not  at 
all  humble.  They  were  seized  and  had  their  heads 
cut  off.  This  act  so  enraged  Gordon,  who  consid- 
ered it  rank  treachery,  that  he  pursued  Li  Hung 
Chang  with  a revolver. 

Orientals,  though  not  valuing  truth  when  it  is 
disagreeable  to  speak  it,  do  not  so  often  seem  to  lie 
when  we  understand  their  language.  Many  have 
been  the  mistakes  of  interpreters,  often  ludicrous, 
sometimes  disastrous,  yet  they  have  done  a large 
and  honorable  part  in  the  good  work  of  brother- 
hood. Gordon  after  a while  resumed  command, 


PEACE  UNDER  HEAVEN 


225 


believing  that  unless  the  advantages  gained  were 
followed  up,  the  war  would  be  indefinitely  pro- 
longed. VV^hen  the  last  stronghold  of  the  rebels, 
Nanking,  was  invested,  the  women  and  children 
were  sent  out,  because  there  was  no  food.  The  Tai 
Ping  leader  took  poison  and  died  by  suicide  June 
30, 1864.  The  imperialists,  having  blown  up  part  of 
the  wall,  entered  through  the  breach  on  the  19th 
of  July.  The  dead  leader’s  son  was  immediately 
executed,  but  his  brave  general  Chung  was  per- 
mitted to  finish  the  writing  of  his  memoirs.  He 
was  then  led  out  and  beheaded. 

The  Tai  Ping  rebellion  was  over,  during  which 
it  is  believed  twenty  millions  of  lives  were  sacri- 
ficed and  some  of  the  finest  provinces  in  China 
devastated.  To-day  in  many  cities  acres  of  ruins, 
once  occupied  by  the  rebels,  remain  to  tell  of  their 
awful  work.  In  gratitude  for  his  eminent  services 
the  Chinese  government  built  a memorial  shrine 
in  commemoration  of  the  brave  American,  Fred- 
erick Townsend  Ward,  born  at  Salem,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1831. 

Gordon  advised  Li  Hung  Chang  to  make  the 
Ever  Victorious  Army  the  basis  of  a standing 
army,  but  this  mandarin  feared  that  such  a force 
might  become  too  powerful.  While  Europe  has 
long  staggered  under  the  awful  expense  of  vast 
standing  armies  and  costly  navies,  and  passed 
through  an  untold  number  of  wars,  armed  up- 
risings, riots,  revolutions,  and  conflicts  of  all 


226 


CHINA’S  STORY 


kinds,  China,  until  pressed  on  all  sides  by  the 
ambitious  and  predatory  Western  nations,  never 
kept  a standing  army.  In  most  places  in  the  em- 
pire there  is  no  permanent  police  force. 

During  all  this  time  a fleet  of  gunboats,  ordered 
by  Prince  Kung  and  built  in  England,  lay  idle 
when  most  needed ; because  the  Chinese  refused, 
even  as  the  Japanese  have  persisted  in  refusing, 
to  give  foreigners  control  of  their  military  or  naval 
forces.  The  Peking  government  decided  how  the 
fleet  purchased  by  them  was  to  be  commanded. 
The  British  gentleman  who  had  been  appointed 
inspector  of  the  Imperial  Customs  was  dismissed, 
and  in  his  place  Mr.  Robert  Hart  was  appointed, 
who  by  tact,  ability,  and  untiring  energy  won  un- 
bounded influence  with  the  Chinese. 

Hart  was  a young  Irishman,  the  descendant  of 
a Captain  van  Hardt,  in  King  William’s  army 
of  1688,  who  with  Irish  grit  and  Dutch  tenacity 
wrought  his  wonderful  work.  During  his  service 
of  over  forty  years,  he  acted  as  mediator,  staved 
off  war,  kept  the  peace,  equipped  the  coast  with 
lighthouses,  revenue  vessels,  navy,  and  army,  and 
created  in  the  customs  service  a spirit  of  honesty 
and  fair  dealing  that  to  the  old-time  mandarins 
seemed  unearthly,  if  not  supernatural. 

With  a navy  of  foreign-built  ships,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  a flag  to  distinguish  the  country  and 
to  be  able  to  hold  communication,  in  the  language 
of  naval  signals,  with  the  war- vessels  of  other  na- 


PEACE  UNDER  HEAVEN 


227 


tions.  A triangular  yellow  flag,  with  the  device  of 
a dragon  upon  it,  was  adopted.  The  shape  now 
used,  following  the  general  fashion  of  the  naval 
world,  is  oblong,  but  the  dragon  remains.  The 
flag  of  Korea  has  the  eight  diagrams,  with  the  red 
and  yellow  symbols  of  creation.  The  flag  of  Japan 
bears  the  red  rising  sun  on  a white  field. 

Another  uprising  in  large  proportions  broke  out 
among  the  Chinese  Mahometans  in  Yunnan.  In 
theory,  China  allows  no  interference  with  the  cus- 
toms of  the  country  as  handed  down  from  the 
times  of  Confucius.  The  state  religion  is  as  much 
opposed  to  Mahometanism  as  to  Christianity. 
Nominally,  but  not  really,  other  religions  are  tol- 
erated, but  there  is  no  such  thing  in  China  as 
perfect  freedom  of  conscience.  China  is  theoret- 
ically, at  least,  a persecuting  country,  as  much  so 
as  is  Russia,  or  as  were  the  old  nations  of  Europe. 
In  spite  of  all  imperial  proclamations,  even  toler- 
ation is  not  a settled  fact.  The  Mahometans  in 
China  are  tolerated  because  they  are  so  strong  and 
so  numerous.  Some  of  the  ablest  Chinese  generals 
have  followed  the  faith  of  Islam. 

The  Mahometans  in  Yunnan,  fearing  that  the 
murder  of  all  their  fellow  believers  had  been  de- 
creed in  Peking,  took  up  arms.  Their  leader  as- 
sumed the  title  of  sultan  and  sent  agents  to  Great 
Britain  asking  for  his  recognition  as  an  independ- 
ent sovereign.  The  rebellion  was  put  down  and 
the  garrison  of  the  chief  stronghold  massacred. 


228 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Another  Mahometan  uprising  broke  out  in  the 
northwest.  The  tribes  in  central  Asia  sympathiz- 
ing, Yakoop  Beg  (or  Governor  Jacob)  assumed 
the  command.  To  repress  disorder,  the  Russians 
sent  an  arinj^  into  Hi,  and  in  1871  established  a 
government  in  the  Chinese  city  of  Kuldja.  The 
Chinese  general  Tso,  marching  leisurely  with  an 
array,  sowing  the  seed  and  raising  the  crops  with 
which  to  feed  his  soldiers  on  the  way,  quelled  this 
rebellion,  and  later  Hi  was  restored  to  the  Chinese. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


JAPAN,  KOREA,  AND  DUAL  SOVEREIGNTY 

The  government  in  Peking  was  gradually  yield- 
ing to  reason.  In  1857,  under  the  persuasion  of 
the  American  minister,  Mr.  Anson  Burlingame, 
it  sent  its  first  embassy  to  foreign  countries  under 
his  leadership,  appointing  two  Chinese  envoys  to 
act  with  him.  In  the  United  States  and  Europe, 
Mr.  Burlingame  did  much  to  enlighten  the  dense 
ignorance  of  Western  people  in  regard  to  the 
most  unknown  of  the  great  nations.  Rather  be- 
cause of  this  ignorance  than  of  the  things  which 
he  ought  not  to  have  said,  he  was  misunderstood. 
The  Chinese  people  were  not  yet  ready  to  open 
their  country  in  such  a way  that  foreigners  would 
be  the  chief  financial  gainers.  On  July  4,  1868, 
he  concluded  the  famous  Burlingame  treaty,  which 
gave  reciprocal  privileges  to  Chinese  and  Amer- 
icans. Going  to  Europe  the  embassy  concluded 
similar  treaties  with  China,  Denmark,  Sweden, 
Holland,  and  Prussia.  Unfortunately  Mr.  Bur- 
lingame died  at  St.  Petersburg  while  negotiating 
with  Russia. 

The  feeling  of  Chinese  against  foreigners  had 
not  very  much  changed.  One  reason  for  this  was 
quite  plain.  Except  missionaries,  few  outsiders 


230 


CHINA’S  STORY 


had  done  much  for  improvement  or  conciliation. 
Anti-foreign  riots  took  place,  even  while  the  em- 
bassy was  in  Europe.  The  unfortunate  expedi- 
tion of  the  French  to  Korea  was  a colossal  blunder, 
and  acted  like  a blast  of  wind  upon  smouldering 
embers  in  China.  The  old  regent  of  Korea  had, 
in  March,  1866,  put  nine  French  missionaries  to 
death  and  persecuted  the  native  Christians.'  The 
French  minister  at  Peking,  who  had  been  an  offi- 
cer in  the  corps  of  African  Zouaves,  and  had 
carried  into  diplomacy  the  language,  manners, 
and  methods  of  the  camp,  ordered  an  expedition 
of  vengeance.  Meanwhile,  in  August,  some  Amer- 
icans and  British,  in  the  schooner  General  Sher- 
man, from  China,  while  on  a disreputable  expedi- 
tion into  Korea,  and  supposed  to  be  Frenchmen, 
were  killed  at  Ping  Yang.  In  October  Admiral 
Roze  with  the  French  squadron  went  up  the  Han 
River,  attacked  the  city  of  Kangwa  and  looted 
it.  He  sent  into  the  interior  a party  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  men,  which  was  attacked  and  had 
to  retreat.  On  a second  expedition  the  French 
force  was  badly  cut  up  and  Admiral  Roze  came 
back,  having  failed  to  accomplish  anything.  To 
his  chagrin,  the  government  at  Paris  disapproved 
of  the  expedition. 

The  authorities  of  Washington  or  London  were 
now  expected  to  act  at  once  and  dispatch  a strong 
force  to  Korea,  but  nothing  was  done.  The  French 
had  the  Germans  on  their  hands,  and  the  report 


DUAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


231 


spread  like  a gale  through  China  that  the  hated 
French  had  been  driven  away  by  the  Koreans. 
These  Europeans,  as  the  Chinese  believed,  were 
like  the  highwayman  who  puts  a pistol  to  the 
traveler’s  head.  They  had  extorted  the  value  of 
land  justly  confiscated  long  ago,  and  had  defied 
their  rulers  and  decent  government  in  protecting 
the  converts  of  their  missionaries. 

The  ruffians,  of  whom  there  are  many  millions 
in  China,  immediately  now  saw  their  opportunity. 
In  Tien  Tsin,  especially,  the  minds  of  the  people 
had  been  doubly  inflamed  by  the  publication  of  an 
anti-Christian  book,  entitled  “ Death  Blow  to  Cor- 
rupt Doctrine,”  intended  to  exterminate  Chris- 
tianity, which  denounced  the  religion  of  Jesus  in 
the  most  violent  language  conceivable.  French 
Roman  Catholic  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  Tien 
Tsin,  despite  their  benevolent  and  noble  work, 
were  very  unpopular  because  of  this  clause  re- 
quiring the  payment  of  indemnity.  But  what 
acted  as  sparks  on  gunpowder  were  the  stories, 
persistently  circulated,  that  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
habitually  kidnapped  children  to  make  medicine 
out  of  their  hearts  and  eyes.  When  photographs 
were  first  seen  in  China,  the  people  believed  that 
part  of  one’s  soul  went  out  of  him  into  the  pic- 
ture, so  that  if  a man  sat  often  before  the  camera 
there  would  be  nothing  left  of  him,  not  even  a 
shadow.  Arguing  also  from  the  image  on  the  eye- 
ball, which  one  looking  into  the  eyes  of  another 


232 


CHINA’S  STORY 


sees,  and  which  is  only  a reflection,  though  itself 
a natural  photograph,  the  ignorant  people  ima- 
gined that  the  chemicals  used  in  photography, 
which  foreigners  made  use  of,  were  made  from 
the  eyes  of  Chinese  infants.  Hence,  the  natives 
argued,  the  great  desire  of  the  Christian  mission- 
aries to  buy  or  get  from  the  dung-piles  or  rubbish- 
heaps  on  which  they  had  been  thrown,  or  out  of 
the  floating  jars  in  the  river,  the  bodies  of  in- 
fants, mostly  female.  Those  in  charge  of  the 
orphanage  wisely  invited  a committee  of  five 
Chinese  gentlemen  to  come  and  satisfy  them- 
selves as  to  the  facts. 

Unfortunately,  this  was  the  time  of  Napoleon 
III.  The  French  consul,  being  present,  was 
angry  at  what  he  considered  an  outrageous  intru- 
sion, and  drove  the  Chinese  gentlemen  into  the 
street.  Meanwhile  a great  mob  had  gathered  to 
hear  the  committee’s  report.  Excited  when  they 
saw  their  countrymen  insulted  by  being  put  out, 
they  attacked  the  consulate.  On  applying  to  the 
superintendent  of  trade  for  military  assistance, 
the  consul  was  informed  that  all  military  orders 
must  come  from  the  viceroy  of  the  province.  He 
then  advised  the  Frenchmen  to  remain  at  the 
Yamen,  or  office. 

The  consul  refused,  and  going  out  into  the 
street,  was  attacked  and  beaten  to  death.  The 
ferocious  mob  then  massacred  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  and  set  on  fire  the  orphanage  and  cathe- 


DUAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


233 


dral.  Twenty  foreigners,  with  most  of  their  na- 
tive assistants,  were  put  to  death. 

Negotiations  followed.  The  supposed  ringlead- 
ers were  decapitated.  Compensation  in  money  was 
made.  The  Chinese  local  officer  voyaged  to  France 
to  make  apologies,  and  the  government  at  Peking 
tried  without  success  to  get  the  obnoxious  clause 
of  the  treaty  annulled.  The  missionaries  of  the 
Roman  Church  still  separate  themselves  and  their 
converts  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  local  man- 
darins, so  that  the  Chinese  really  have  no  sover- 
eignty over  their  subjects  when  attached  to  this 
form  of  Christianity. 

The  young  emperor  was  considered  old  enough 
to  be  married  in  1872,  and  on  October  16  the 
wedding  took  place  with  great  ceremony.  The 
foreign  ministers  were  given  audience  June  29, 
1873,  in  the  hall  for  the  receiving  of  tributary 
nations,  or  Pavilion  of  Purple  Light.  This  was  so 
pleasing  to  foreigners  that  many  of  them  leaped 
to  the  conclusion  that  China  would  immediately 
become  a field  for  commercial  invasion.  These 
hopes  were  not  fulfilled.  China  was  not  ready  yet 
to  have  her  economic  and  social  system  thrown 
into  confusion  by  railways,  telegraphs,  and  the 
machinery  which  foreigners  were  only  too  glad  to 
sell.  Such  hasty  action  would  mean  the  throwing 
out  of  employment  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
laborers,  and  long-continued  distress.  The  Boxer 
uprising  of  1900  was  thus  caused. 


234 


CHINA^S  STORY 


In  addition  to  floods,  famines,  and  other  inte- 
rior troubles,  China  was  now  to  receive  the  first 
serious  assault  upon  her  hoary  doctrine  of  univer- 
sal sovereignty,  not  from  the  West,  but  from  a 
nation  whom  she  had  long  looked  upon  as  vassal. 
A train  of  events  began,  which  was  to  end  the  last 
of  the  dual  sovereignties  of  Asia,  in  Korea,  Loo 
Choo,  Tibet,  Burma,  Annam,  and  Hi.  Korea  and 
the  Loo  Choo  Islands,  being  too  weak  to  defend 
themselves,  had  lived  under  the  motto,  “ Courtesy 
to  China  and  Politeness  to  Japan.”  The  Japanese 
had  for  eight  hundred  years  claimed  the  Islands 
of  the  Sleeping  Dragon  (Riu  Kin)  or  the  Long 
Rope  (Okinawa)  as  they  called  them,  as  part  of 
their  empire.  The  Chinese  wrote  the  name  with 
characters  meaning  pendant  tassels,  signifying  the 
fringe  on  the  great  robe  of  the  Central  Empire. 

China  had  never  pretended  to  govern  the  east 
side  of  Formosa,  the  high  mountain  region  in- 
habited by  head-hunters.  These  copper -colored 
savages  made  the  possession  of  human  heads, 
chiefly  Chinese,  the  basis  of  property,  the  unit  of 
value,  and  the  social  necessity  of  a would-be  bride- 
groom, before  he  could  get  a wife  or  found  a 
family.  It  was  even  said  that  these  men  in  the 
bamboo  jungle  were  cannibals. 

Formosa  is  the  original  home  of  the  morning- 
glory  and  the  blue  bamboo,  and  is  the  island  of 
camphor  forests.  On  its  eastern  coast  many  Amer- 
ican and  European  vessels  have  been  wrecked  and 


DUAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


235 


their  crews  beheaded.  Expeditions  of  chastise- 
ment had  been  attempted,  but  it  being  impossible 
for  white  men  to  fight  the  aborigines  in  the  hot 
and  steaming  jungles,  these  were  all  failures.  In 
one  such  expedition,  under  the  American  Admiral 
Bell,  with  the  warships  Hartford  and  Wyoming,  on 
June  19,  1867,  Lieutenant  A.  S.  McKenzie  was 
killed,  Mr.  Sigsbee,  later  Captain  of  the  U.  S. 
battleship  Maine,  in  Havana  harbor,  being  present. 

After  1868,  the  Mikado  having  been  restored 
to  ancient  power,  the  Tokyo  government  sent  two 
companies  of  soldiers  to  the  capital  of  Riu  Kiu, 
lowered  the  kinglet  of  the  islands  to  the  grade  of 
marquis,  and  brought  him  to  Tokyo  to  live.  The 
group  of  islands  became  an  integral  part  of  Japan, 
under  the  name  of  the  Okinawa  prefecture.  When 
in  1874  fifty-four  Loo  Chooans  were  wrecked  on 
Formosa  and  murdered,  satisfaction  was  demanded 
from  Peking.  The  answer  was  given  that  eastern 
Formosa  was  not  under  Chinese  jurisdiction.  The 
Japanese  sent  a detachment,  with  modern  uni- 
forms and  weapons,  under  General  Saigo,  to  pun- 
ish the  head-hunters  and  build  roads  and  houses. 
The  Chinese  ordered  them  off,  but  the  Tokyo  gov- 
ernment refused,  unless  both  indemnity  and  a 
guarantee  that  the  islands  should  be  ruled  effi- 
ciently, after  the  manner  of  civilization,  were 
given.  During  the  negotiations,  Okubo,  the  Jap- 
anese minister,  appeared  in  Peking.  He  refused 
to  treat  on  any  basis  but  that  of  international  law, 


236 


CHINA’S  STORY 


a copy  of  which  he  presented  to  the  Tsung-li 
Yamen.  He  would  not  recognize,  or  have  anything 
to  do  with,  the  Chinese  notion  of  universal  sover- 
eignty. On  the  basis  of  the  laws  of  nations,  the 
two  governments  entered  into  a peaceful  arrange- 
ment, the  Chinese  agreeing  to  pay  five  hundred 
thousand  taels  to  the  Japanese.  Concerning  the 
Riu  Kiu  Islands,  China  and  Japan  appointed 
joint  high  commissioners  to  negotiate,  but  at  the 
last  the  Peking  mandarins  took  the  whole  matter 
out  of  their  hands  and  put  it  under  control  of 
the  Board  of  Trade,  — an  insult  which  Japan  re- 
membered in  1904. 

Tung  Chi,  the  young  emperor,  died  childless  on 
January  12,  1875.  Then  the  potency  of  a Chinese 
woman  behind  the  throne  was  again,  as  so  often 
before,  illustrated.  Nominally,  women  in  China 
are  wholly  subordinate  in  public.  Within  the 
home  and  behind  the  curtain  of  the  government, 
they  are  often  all-powerful.  Their  “ rights  ” are 
undefined,  but  their  sovereignty  is  sure.  By  the 
mother  of  the  dead  emperor,  the  infant  son  of 
Prince  Chun  and  nephew  of  the  empress  was 
brought  crying,  out  of  his  cradle,  into  the  palace 
and  enthroned  as  Kwang  Si,  while  she  herself, 
the  dowager  empress,  became  the  real  ruler  of 
China,  swaying  its  destinies  until  1908.  Prince 
Kung  retired  and  Li  Hung  Chang  became  promi- 
nent as  adviser  to  the  government. 

When  in  1874  Mr.  A.  R.  Margary,  of  the  Brit- 


DUAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


237 


ish  consular  service,  was  murdered  in  Yunnan,  Sir 
Thomas  Wade  endeavored  to  have  a high  manda- 
rin punished,  but  the  mystery  was  never  cleared 
up.  Instead  of  war,  a convention  made  at  Chi 
Fu  opened  two  new  ports  of  trade,  and  four 
places  on  the  Yang-tse,  where  foreign  goods  could 
be  landed,  were  named.  An  indemnity  and  other 
matters  calculated  to  produce  mutual  good-will 
were  agreed  upon. 

By  the  treaty  of  Livadia,  in  1879,  Kuldja,  and 
that  signed  at  St.  Petersburg  in  1881,  Hi  was 
restored  to  China  after  an  indemnity  of  nine  mil- 
lion rubles  had  been  paid  to  Russia. 

Another  blow  at  China’s  nearly  defunct  doctrine 
of  universal  sovereignty  was  given  by  Japan 
through  Korea.  Neither  the  French  nor  the  Amer- 
ican expedition  had  accomplished  anything  per- 
manent, but  in  1876,  when  the  marines  of  a Jap- 
anese surveying  ship,  mistaken  for  Frenchmen, 
were  fired  upon  from  a Korean  fort,  they  imme- 
diately captured  it.  The  Tokyo  government  sent 
a peace  expedition  to  Korea,  which  was  exactly 
like  Commodore  Perry’s,  in  method  and  manner. 
The  government  at  Seoul  agreed  by  treaty  to  open 
three  ports  and  allow  Japanese  to  live  in  the  coun- 
try. Thus  Japan  gave  to  Korea  her  first  recogni- 
tion as  an  independent  country. 

As  the  Central  Empire  still  considered  the 
Peninsular  Kingdom  a vassal,  the  court  of  Peking 
looked  with  suspicion  upon  this  action,  and  in 


238 


CHINA’S  STORY 


order  to  neutralize  its  influence  virtually  opened 
this  hermit  kingdom  to  the  world,  by  making  a 
commercial  treaty  with  Korea  and  helping  the 
American  envoy  to  do  the  same,  just  as  if  the 
Koreans  were  an  independent  people.  China,  how- 
ever, was  still  blinded  by  old  traditions  and 
thought  that  she  should  retain  control.  In  trying 
to  “ save  face,”  she  paved  the  way  for  serious  mis- 
understandings in  the  future. 

When  a Korean  mob,  with  stones  and  fire-arms, 
attacked  their  legation,  the  Japanese  fought  their 
way  to  the  coast.  The  old  regent,  in  Seoul,  who 
had  fomented  the  disturbance,  made  the  young 
king,  his  own  son,  a prisoner,  and  connived  at  an 
attempt  to  assassinate  the  queen  Min. 

Li  Hung  Chang  at  once  dispatched  a naval 
squadron  and  a body  of  soldiers  to  Seoul.  The  up- 
rising was  put  down,  the  king  restored,  and  the 
regent  kidnapped  and  brought  to  Tien  Tsin.  A 
Chinese  officer.  Yuan  Shi  Kai,  like  a British  resi- 
dent in  India,  was  installed  at  the  Korean  court, 
and  a military  force  was  kept  in  camp  near  Seoul. 

In  the  negotiations  which  followed,  a new  port 
was  opened,  Japan  received  an  indemnity,  and 
kept  a permanent  guard  of  soldiers  at  the  lega- 
tion. These  men,  mostly  deer-hunters  of  northern 
Japan,  were  dead  shots  with  the  rifle.  It  boded  ill 
for  the  peace  of  the  country,  that  besides  a swag- 
gering Chinese  resident,  with  a large  force  of  sol- 
diers at  his  beck  and  call,  there  should  be  two 


DUAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


239 


companies  of  Japanese  riflemen  only  too  ready  to 
make  use  of  their  rivals  as  targets.  Between  the 
two  countries,  as  said  before,  no  love  is  ever  lost. 

The  oddity  of  dual  sovereignty,  that  is,  of  one 
state  owing  allegiance  to  two  suzerains,  — a ser- 
vant serving  two  masters,  — was  again  illustrated 
in  the  Far  East  by  Korea.  China,  while  professing 
to  the  world  that  Korea  was  an  independent  state, 
virtually  annexed  “ the  Little  Outpost  Country,” 
by  including  her  within  the  Imperial  Chinese  Cus- 
toms. In  November,  1883,  the  Korean  envoys, 
escaping  Chinese  espionage,  were  brought  across 
the  ocean  in  the  American  man-of-war,  Trenton. 
They  visited  Washington,  met  President  Arthur, 
and  ratified  the  American  treaty  as  if  agents  of  a 
sovereign  state.  In  Europe,  also,  they  had  their 
eyes  still  further  opened  concerning  the  advan- 
tages of  Western  civilization,  as  compared  with 
that  of  China. 

I had  the  honor  of  meeting  in  New  York  and 
conversing,  through  the  medium  of  the  Japanese 
language,  with  this  embassy,  headed  by  Ming 
Yong  Ik,  the  cousin  of  the  queen.  These  pic- 
turesque wearers  of  white  gowns  and  big  hats  dif- 
fered among  themselves,  some  being  eager  pro- 
gressives and  others  intense  conservatives.  Soon 
after  these  Koreans  reached  Seoul,  the  so-called 
Liberals  seized  the  royal  palace  and  beheaded  the 
king’s  ministers.  By  a trick,  they  secured  the  aid 
of  the  J apanese  legation  guard.  They  expected  to 


240 


CHINA’S  STORY 


reform  the  government  at  once  and,  in  a few  days 
or  weeks,  change  the  ancient  dress,  habits,  and 
manners  of  their  countrymen,  and  make  Korea  a 
modern  state. 

The  Chinese  troops  moved  upon  the  palace  to 
rescue  the  king.  The  little  band  of  fewer  than 
two  hundred  Japanese  were  compelled  to  retreat, 
which  they  did  in  good  order.  Their  superb  marks- 
manship told  terribly  on  the  overwhelming  num- 
bers of  the  Korean  mob  and  Chinese  troops. 
Their  march  continued  to  the  seaport  Chemulpo. 
The  J apanese  legation  was  looted  and  burned. 

The  governments  of  Tokyo  and  Peking  landed 
fresh  military  reinforcements,  but  the  danger  of 
another  collision  was  averted  by  the  convention  of 
Tien  Tsin,  made  by  the  Marquis  Ito  and  Li  Hung 
Chang.  It  was  agreed  that  neither  China  nor 
Japan  should  attempt  permanent  occupation  of 
the  peninsula.  In  case  of  disturbance,  neither 
should  send  troops  without  first  giving  notice  to 
the  other.  The  soldiery  of  both  countries  was  then 
withdrawn. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS 

The  Land  of  Morning  Calm  suffered  so  much 
from  her  chronic  disease  of  insurrection,  caused 
by  the  rapacity  of  her  nobles  and  the  weakness 
of  her  central  government,  that  it  became  a men- 
ace to  the  peace  of  the  East.  The  palace  and 
capital  were  under  the  control  of  the  women  of 
the  harem,  the  eunuchs,  and  the  sorcerers  rather 
than  of  statesmen.  The  court  and  the  govern- 
ment were  not  separated.  The  little  kingdom  was 
liable  at  any  time  to  become  a prey  to  the  cupid- 
ity of  foreign  nations,  especially  since  the  old- 
fashioned  European  doctrine  of  “the  balance  of 
power”  had  been  extended  even  to  the  Far  East. 
When  Russia  made  a move  on  the  northern  fron- 
tier, Great  Britain,  in  order  to  keep  equilibrium, 
seized  Port  Hamilton.  Both  these  powers  ignored 
the  wishes  of  the  weakling,  for  the  pigmy  king- 
dom was  not  able  even  to  play  the  balance-beam 
on  the  see-saw. 

In  China,  under  Li  Hung  Chang’s  directions, 
Port  Arthur  and  Wei-hai-wei,  the  sea  gateways 
to  the  capital,  were  fortified  by  German  engineers, 
and  an  army  was  drilled  by  German  officers. 
There  was  talk  of  Bismarck’s  buying  Formosa, 


242 


CHINA’S  STORY 


where  German  marines  first  used  the  needle 
gun. 

In  the  Land  of  the  Kising  Sun  the  evolution 
of  a public  school  army,  in  which  every  man  could 
read  and  write,  and  assembled  on  modern  lines  of 
organization,  proceeded  rapidly.  Sooner  or  later 
collision  with  the  Chinese  claim  of  universal 
sovereignty  was  inevitable.  In  Russia’s  contempt 
for  the  Japanese  as  an  inferior  race,  as  “ yellow 
monkeys,”  and  her  determination  to  control  eastern 
Asia  by  land  and  sea,  J apan  saw  another  imminent 
danger.  Meanwhile  the  islanders  were  very  skep- 
tical of  China’s  ability,  in  case  of  war,  either  to 
defend  herself  or  to  enforce  neutrality. 

Neither  Russia  nor  Great  Britain  was  alone  in 
readiness  of  aggression  against  weak  China. 
France  also  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  conquest. 
Her  agents  had  shown  this  by  interfering  in  Jap- 
anese affairs  in  1868,  offering  to  aid  the  reactionary 
party,  and  also  by  invading  Korea  in  1870,  as  we 
have  seen. 

It  was  clear  that,  sooner  or  later,  the  claim  of 
France  to  stand  as  the  protector  in  Asia  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Christians  would  bring  her  into 
collision  with  China,  the  church  nation.  Under  all 
dynasties,  the  Peking  government  clings  to  the 
Confucian  ritual  as  of  divine  origin.  France  hav- 
ing gained  so  great  a point  in  diplomacy  in  shield- 
ins:  native  Chinese  Christians,  it  remained  now  to 
find  some  vulnerable  point  in  China’s  “ face.”  This 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS  243 


the  French  did  in  Annam,  just  as  the  Germans  did 
later  in  Shantung  in  1897- 

France  had  failed  to  colonize  America,  but  as 
early  as  1715  the  Roman  form  of  Christianity  was 
introduced  by  French  missionaries  in  Annam. 
With  success  came  difficulties  between  the  con- 
verts and  other  natives.  Some  French  priests  were 
murdered.  France  interfered,  and  a treaty  was 
made.  When  in  1858  the  King  of  Annam  would 
not  fulfill  the  promised  terms,  a French  fleet  de- 
stroyed some  forts  at  Hue,  the  capital,  and  took 
Saigon.  In  1864  Cochin  China  was  ceded  to 
France,  becoming  a French  colony. 

After  the  Franco-Prussian  War  France  entered 
upon  a commercial  crusade,  hoping  by  this  means 
to  recoup  the  losses  by  war  in  Europe.  Something 
like  the  spirit  of  filibustering  that  disturbed  the 
United  States  in  the  days  of  Presidents  Fillmore 
and  Pierce,  when  Cuba,  Mexico,  and  Nicaragua 
were  invaded  by  private  bands  of  adventurers 
from  the  United  States,  broke  out  in  France.  The 
great  prize  in  view  was  the  possession  of  the  trade 
routes  to  Yunnan,  which  the  British  also  were  ex- 
pecting to  gain  through  Burma.  Hanoi,  the  cap- 
ital of  Tong  King,  was  the  point  of  attack.  The 
French  hoped  to  gain  this  province  and  build  rail- 
ways into  China  proper.  Langson,  a town  eighty 
miles  distant  and  near  the  frontier  of  Yunnan,  was 
to  be  the  prize  of  French  strategy. 

The  King  of  Annam  appealed  to  the  Chinese 


244 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Emperor  for  protection,  but  ten  years  of  negotia- 
tion failed  to  yield  satisfaction  either  to  Peking 
or  to  Paris.  Meanwhile  the  Annamese  king  hired 
Chinese  volunteers,  or  irregular  troops,  called  the 
Black  Flags.  When  the  French  threatened  an 
attack  upon  them.  Marquis  Tseng  in  Paris  gave 
notice  that  this  would  mean  war.  As  neither  China 
nor  France  wanted  this,  a conference  was  held  at 
Tien  Tsin.  Yet  while  tortoise  - slow  China,  then 
the  land  without  nerves  or  telegraphs,  crawled, 
not  having  learned  the  value  of  time,  the  French 
leaped  like  a greyhound.  The  Peking  authorities 
forgot  or  neglected  to  notify  their  troops  either  as 
to  the  time  of  their  withdrawal,  or  of  the  proposed 
French  occupation  of  Langson.  In  this  era  of  tele- 
grams, orders  from  Europe  were  received  over 
nio:ht.  When  in  1884  the  French  moved  to  oc- 
cupy  the  places  named,  they  were  repulsed.  Paris 
at  once  charged  Peking  with  treachery,  but  the 
Chinese  claimed  that  the  French,  no  date  hav- 
ing been  specified,  were  in  too  much  of  a hurry, 
and  were  equally  breakers  of  good  faith. 

Admiral  Courbet,  to  whom  a monument  was 
unveiled  in  Formosa  in  1910,  was  a stalwart  up- 
holder of  French  interests.  He  bombarded  Keel- 
ung  in  Formosa,  and  then  appeared  before  Foo 
Chow  on  the  mainland.  Before  the  Chinese  sus- 
pected his  purpose,  it  being  a time  of  peace,  he 
was  inside  the  Min  or  Pearl  Kiver  and  in  the  rear 
of  the  Chinese  forts  and  fleet.  Receiving  orders 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS  245 


by  telegram  from  Paris,  he  summoned  both  to 
surrender  and  was  refused.  The  French,  then  the 
best  artillerists  in  the  world,  opened  fire  and  in  a 
few  minutes  destroyed  both  forts  and  fleet.  Cour- 
bet returned  to  Formosa,  took  Keelung,  and  occu- 
pied it.  In  Tong  King,  however,  the  Black  Flags 
were  more  than  a match  for  their  enemies,  and 
the  French  had  to  retreat  from  Langson. 

Such  a war  had  in  it  neither  glory  nor  profit 
to  either  party.  To  France  it  was  frightfully 
costly.  By  the  treaty  of  June  9,  1885,  matters 
were  left  very  much  as  before,  except  that  China 
was  again  called  on  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  ten 
million  taels.  After  other  experiences,  as  with 
Japan  in  1894-95,  and  with  the  powers  in  1900, 
China  found  it  cheaper,  as  Japan  had  already 
done,  to  arm  and  fight,  than  to  trust  to  the  honor 
of  nations,  whether  Christian  or  pagan.  It  was 
plain  that  the  sons  of  Han  could  face  their  foes, 
white  or  brown,  if  they  could  be  properly  armed 
and  led. 

The  humiliating  experiences  of  the  Chinese 
still  further  opened  their  eyes.  Men  must  go  down 
into  a well  if  they  would  see  the  reality  of  stars 
during  daylight  hours.  As  in  every  other  case  of 
China’s  collision  with  Western  powers,  reforms 
followed,  and  in  1886  a navy  was  formed.  The 
northern  squadron  of  modern  steel  battleships  and 
cruisers,  built  in  England  and  Germany,  was  in  use 
by  1890.  China  was  not  yet  enough  of  a nation,  or 


246 


CHINA’S  STORY 


sufficiently  unified,  to  have  all  the  national  ships 
under  one  head.  The  southern  squadron  was  put 
under  local  officials  in  the  south,  with  headquarters 
at  Foo  Chow,  Captain  Lang  of  the  British  fleet 
in  command  ; but  the  inevitable  misunderstand- 
ing, or  quarrel,  concerning  the  relative  rank  and 
authority  of  foreigner  and  native  came  in  due 
time. 

The  Peking  government  felt  the  necessity  of 
learning  the  news  of  the  world  quickly,  and  the 
short  telegraph  line  between  Tung  Chow  and 
Yunnan  was  extended  to  Peking.  China’s  nervous 
system  was  thus  improved.  Of  old  she  had  been 
compared  to  an  alligator,  the  head  of  which,  if  a 
pin  was  stuck  into  its  tail,  would  only  after  some 
minutes  know  what  had  happened.  Nothing  of 
the  celerity  of  the  dragon,  which  she  bore  on  her 
yellow  flag,  marked  her  movements.  The  actual 
creature  in  diplomacy  seemed  too  long  in  trying  to 
swallow  the  sun. 

From  being  a boneless,  nerveless  giant,  China 
was  becoming  more  like  a normal  man,  with  a 
prospect  of  being  something  of  an  athelete,  and 
instantly  responsive.  In  old  days,  a war  in  one 
province  was  of  so  little  concern  to  another,  that 
thousands  of  men  might  be  slaughtered  by  foreign- 
ers at  one  end  of  the  empire  without  arousing 
much  feeling  in  other  provinces.  It  did  not  occur 
to  Chinese  in  the  interior  that  things  done  at  the 
seashore  concerned  them  also.  Race  pride  did  not 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS  247 


mean  patriotism.  Without  newspapers,  telegraphs, 
railways,  and  public  schools,  the  Chinese  could  not 
become  a body  politic,  sensitive  in  every  part  of 
its  frame.  The  mollusk  must  become  vertebrated. 

This  evolution,  into  a type  of  political  structure 
with  a backbone,  was  rapidly  promoted  by  events. 
The  customs  service,  organized  all  over  the  em- 
pire under  the  supervision  of  Sir  Robert  Hart, 
helped  greatly  the  cause  of  national  unity;  yet 
without  representation  of  the  people  in  the  central 
government,  there  was  little  hope  of  rapid  progress. 
So  long  as  merit  or  blame  rested  wholly  with  the 
emperor  or  his  servants  the  people  felt  no  respon- 
sibility. Some  attempt  was  made  to  create  a na- 
tional consciousness  and  also  to  improve  and  revise 
the  civil  service  examinations.  Mathematics  were 
introduced,  but  the  old-fashioned  scholars  opposed 
the  innovation  and  nullified  the  expected  benefit. 

The  woes  of  a land  whose  prince  was  a child 
seemed  to  have  surcease  for  a while,  when,  in  1887, 
the  boy  emperor  came  of  age.  In  1889  he  married, 
and  to  the  joy  of  an  army  of  menials  and  con- 
tractors, who  fatten  on  the  tax-paying  people,  over 
$5,000,000  were  lavished  on  the  wedding  cere- 
monies. The  dowager  empress  now  retired,  and 
in  1891  the  young  emperor  gave  audience  to  the 
foreign  ministers.  Yet  though  many  rejoiced  at 
this,  the  coming  of  the  new  kingdom,  which  for- 
eigners waited  for,  still  tarried.  Evidences  of  the 
literary  bigotry  yet  to  be  overcome  were  seen  in 


248 


CHINA’S  STORY 


the  opposition  of  the  men  of  letters  in  the  Yang- 
tse  valley  to  the  proposed  reforms  in  the  exami- 
nations. The  anti  - foreign  spirit  of  the  soldiers 
was  also  pronounced,  Honan  being  the  centre  of 
opposition.  The  most  horribly  blasphemous  pic- 
tures and  tracts  against  the  Christian  religion,  and 
the  old  story  of  kidnapping  children  and  using 
their  eyes  for  chemicals — easily  believed  in  a coun- 
try where  science  was  not  taught  — were  widely 
circulated. 

In  many  places  riots  broke  out,  Christian 
churches  were  wrecked,  and  two  foreigners  were 
killed.  The  Peking  government,  too  weak  to  fer- 
ret out  the  culprits,  evaded  the  task  and  paid 
money,  which  the  foreigners  too  readily  received. 
The  emperor  issued  an  edict,  saying  some  good 
things  about  the  religion  of  the  missionaries  and 
their  motives  and  aims.  The  local  magistrates  were 
to  protect  the  property  and  lives  of  foreigners. 
There  was  as  yet,  however,  no  real  religious  free- 
dom granted,  and  the  seed  of  troubles  still  re- 
mained. 

While  China’s  chronic  diseases,  corruption  in 
the  government,  favoritism  of  the  mandarins,  and 
love  of  falsehood,  still  persisted,  there  was  little 
hope  of  genuine  reform.  No  machinery  of  iron, 
wood,  or  stone  has  ever  been  devised  that  can  make 
men  virtuous.  Because  the  Chinese  government 
spent  plenty  of  money  in  buying  ships,  weapons, 
and  ammunition  from  foreigners,  it  was  supposed 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS  249 


by  them  that  China  was  “ awakening,”  and  Li 
Hung  Chang  was  liberal-minded.  Such  a showy 
policy  pleased  all  lovers  of  material  progress,  for 
arsenals  were  built  and  young  men  trained  in  the 
navy  and  army. 

At  Yokohama,  in  1873,  I met  Dr.  Yung  Wing, 
who,  brought  to  Massachusetts  by  Dr.  S.  R. 
Brown  in  1847,  won  prizes  and  graduated  from 
Yale  College,  He  had  orders  from  Peking  to 
take  sixscore  youths  to  America  to  be  educated. 
They  came  to  New  England  and  were  making 
excellent  progress.  The  conservatives  in  Peking, 
however,  feared  that  these  lads  might  become  too 
American,  human,  and  modern;  and  the  boys 
were  all  recalled  after  a few  months.  Those  who 
hope  for  reform,  even  if  they  begin  in  their  boy- 
hood, must  expect  to  count  a good  many  gray 
hairs  on  their  heads,  and  probably  lose  even  these, 
before  China  is  fully  modernized.  We  must  ex- 
pect reaction  from  time  to  time,  for  the  course  from 
old  disease  to  perfect  health  is  never  a straight 
one. 

Again  the  Central  Empire’s  ancient  claim  of 
exclusive  sovereignty  proved  her  undoing  and 
humiliation,  when  unreformed  China  came  into 
collision  with  new  Japan.  By  piercing  the  ele- 
phant-like  crust  of  conservatism,  the  logic  of 
events  hastened  the  day  of  reconstruction.  In 
Korea,  the  weak  spot  of  the  Far  East,  one  of  the 
chronic  southern  insurrections  broke  out  early 


250 


CHINA’S  STORY 


in  1894,  this  time  led  by  the  head  of  the  Tong 
Haks,  who  were  followers  of  Oriental  culture  as 
opposed  to  Western  ideas.  Unable  to  repress  the 
uprising,  the  pro-Chinese  party  in  Seoul  applied 
for  help.  The  Peking  government,  violating  the 
Li-Ito  treaty,  sent  into  Korea  a force  of  two  thou- 
sand soldiers  first,  and  then  gave  notice  to  Tokyo, 
saying  that  Korea  was  “ Our  vassal  state.”  At 
once  the  Mikado’s  government  sent  a larger  force 
to  Korea  under  strict  discipline,  and  notified  Pe- 
king that  any  further  despatch  of  Chinese  troops 
would  be  an  act  of  war. 

Despite  this  warning,  China  chartered  the  Brit- 
ish transport  Kow  Shing,  and  put  on  board  eleven 
hundred  men.  Escorted  by  two  Chinese  men-of- 
war,  she  was  met  by  Captain  (afterwards  Ad- 
miral) Togo,  in  the  steel  cruiser  Naniwa.  Know- 
ing the  treaty  had  been  violated,  Togo  signaled 
to  the  Kow  Shing  to  surrender  or  to  go  to  a 
Japanese  port  as  a prize  of  war.  The  Chinese 
soldiers  would  neither  yield  nor  let  the  foreign 
officers  off  the  ship.  Togo  kept  his  signals  flying 
four  hours.  He  then  ran  up  the  red  flag,  and  sunk 
the  transport  with  a broadside.  He  was  justified 
by  the  verdict  of  international  law. 

War  was  now  declared  from  both  Tokyo  and 
Peking,  the  document  of  the  Mikado  being  in  the 
temperate  language  of  civilized  nations,  while  that 
from  Peking  was  violent,  abusive,  and  boastful, 
echoing  the  ancient  notions  of  Chinese  statecraft. 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS  251 


The  real  kernel  of  the  whole  matter  was  that 
China,  despite  her  solemn  treaties,  had  not  yet, 
either  in  regard  to  Riu  Kin,  Formosa,  or  Korea, 
sincerely  accepted  international  law,  and  in  now 
flaunting  her  doctrine  of  universal  sovereignty, 
gave  the  first  provocation.  The  Tong  Hak  insur- 
rection and  all  the  incidents  following  it,  includ- 
ing the  murder  of  the  Korean  reformer,  Kim  Ok 
Kiun,  in  Shanghai,  and  the  transportation  of  the 
corpse  in  a Chinese  warship  to  be  delivered  to 
the  Seoul  government  for  savage  mutilation,  were 
mere  matters  of  occasion,  but  were  not  causes. 
There  was  no  hope  for  Japan,  or  for  peace,  so 
long  as  China  held  to  a doctrine  that  nullified  all 
her  treaty  promises. 

Two  Asiatic  nations  now  confronted  each  other 
in  war,  one  having  but  a tenth  part  of  the  popu- 
lation, area,  and  resources  of  the  other ; the  dis- 
crepancy and  contrast  being  so  great  as  to  recall 
the  conflict  of  David  and  Goliath.  One  was  in- 
closed in  obsolete  panoply,  the  other  wielded  ex- 
pertly its  weapons.  Japan  had  an  army  educated 
in  the  public  schools,  inflamed  with  patriotism, 
led  by  officers  filled  with  the  noblest  ideals  of 
loyalty,  masters  of  modern  science,  and  backed 
by  helpful  women  fully  as  intelligent  as  the  men. 
Moreover,  Japan  went  to  war  with  a creditable 
hospital  corps,  including  ships  and  hundreds  of 
trained  nurses. 

China’s  real  army  consisted  of  about  thirty 


252 


CHINA’S  STORY 


thousand  troops  drilled  in  modern  style,  her  north- 
ern forts  were  modern  and  strong,  and  her  steel 
navy  large,  including  battleships,  while  the  Jap- 
anese had  only  cruisers.  There  existed  no  regu- 
lar provision  for  the  treatment  of  the  Chinese 
sick  and  wounded,  and  the  war  equipment  of  most 
of  the  new  soldiers  called  out  was  medieval. 

Those  who  knew  the  situation  predicted,  with 
only  ordinary  foresight,  what  would  happen,  or, 
as  the  writer  declared,  w’hen  the  news  of  the  war’s 
outbreak  was  first  received : “ There  will  be  one 
great  battle  — at  Ping  Yang.  The  regular  forces 
of  the  Chinese  will  be  beaten.  After  that  the 
Japanese  will  go  through  China  as  a knife  goes 
through  cheese.” 

The  Mikado’s  soldiers  gained  their  first  victory 
over  the  Chinese  at  Asan  and  won  the  battle  at 
Ping  Yang.  The  Japanese  sailors,  with  only 
cruisers  and  no  battleships,  crippled  the  Chinese 
fleet  near  the  Yalu  Kiver  mouth,  five  vessels 
under  the  dragon  flag  being  sunk,  and  the  rest, 
seven  in  number,  put  to  flight.  Korea  was  swept 
clean  of  Chinese  troops,  and  Marshal  Yamagata 
occupied  southern  Manchuria.  After  taking  two 
cities,  he  assaulted  Port  Arthur  November  21, 
capturing  the  stronghold  which  had  been  consid- 
ered impregnable.  General  Oyama  landed  an- 
other army  and  took  the  forts  at  Wei-hai-wei. 

The  Peking  government  sent  two  separate  mis- 
sions to  Japan  to  treat  for  peace,  but  without 


OLD  DOGMAS  BLOWN  TO  ATOMS  253 


giving  the  envoys  full  power.  After  this  incred- 
ible piece  of  conceit,  the  war  went  on.  The 
Japanese  blew  up  the  Chinese  battleships,  turn- 
ing the  guns  of  the  forts  against  the  former 
garrison.  Admiral  Tang  committed  suicide. 

The  court  had  disgraced  Li  Hung  Chang,  but 
called  him  again  to  honor  and  sent  him  as  peace 
commissioner  to  Shimonoseki,  where  he  was  shot 
at  and  wounded  by  one  of  those  assassins  so  nu- 
merous in  Japan’s  history.  On  the  17th  of  April, 
1895,  a treaty  was  signed  which  declared  the  in- 
dependence of  Korea,  ceded  the  Liao  Tung  penin- 
sula, including  Port  Arthur,  to  Japan,  opened  five 
new  ports  to  trade,  and  required  China  to  pay  to 
Japan  within  seven  years  an  indemnity  of  two 
hundred  million  taels. 

This  humiliating  treaty  was  doubtless  agreed  to 
by  China  in  the  hope  that  Russia  or  the  European 
powers,  by  whose  mutual  jealousy  and  the  play- 
ing off  of  one  against  the  other  Peking  had  long 
profited,  would  interfere.  They  did. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  when  in  a little  steam-tug 
the  two  J apanese  peace  commissioners,  not  know- 
ing how  far  the  Chinese  would  keep  faith,  ap- 
proached Chifu,  where  the  ratifications  were  to 
take  place,  the  sight  of  the  mighty  allied  fleet  of 
the  three  powers  as  against  the  little  steam-tug 
was  ludicrous.  It  was  like  that  of  roaring  wild 
beasts  about  a dove. 

Not  alone  Russia’s  big  fleet,  but  all  of  the  avail- 


254 


CHINA’S  STORY 


able  German  and  French  war  vessels  in  Asiatic 
waters,  had  assembled  in  Chifu  harbor,  and  their 
gunners  were  firing  blank  cartridges,  filling  the 
air  and  heavens  with  smoke  to  overawe  two  men 
in  a little  tug.  Uniting  against  Japan  in  her  ex- 
hausted condition,  the  three  great  powers  forced 
her  to  give  up  her  foothold  on  the  continent  and 
accept,  instead,  Formosa  and  the  Pescadores,  with 
a bonus  of  thirty  million  taels.  Unable  at  once, 
without  a great  navy,  to  fight  the  three  combined 
nations,  the  Japanese  accepted  the  situation,  and 
a supplementary  treaty  was  signed  at  Peking, 
November  7,  1895.  Japan  immediately  invested 
the  extra  money  in  building  the  best  battleships 
afloat,  and  at  once  began  preparations  to  fight 
Russia,  whose  motives  and  purposes  had  been 
already  foreseen  in  Tokyo. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


THE  BOXER  RIOTS 

Her  exorbitant  creditors  now  pressed  China, 
and  as  usual  she  had  to  pay  all  the  bills.  To  Rus- 
sia she  yielded  the  right  to  extend  her  Siberian 
railway  through  Manchuria  to  Vladivostok,  with 
branch  lines  to  Mukden  and  Port  Arthur.  The 
French  were  promised  that  railways  in  China  when 
built  should  meet  theirs  in  Tong  King.  Germany 
was  given  fresh  mining  and  railway  privileges  in 
Shantung. 

The  burdens  of  the  war  fell  upon  the  poor  peo- 
ple, who  were  goaded  almost  to  universal  rebellion 
by  the  new  exactions  laid  upon  them.  One  of  the 
worst  results  was  the  pitiable  exposure  of  China’s 
military  weakness,  the  great  world,  as  usual,  hav- 
ing been  misled  by  notions  of  bulk.  It  was  the 
old  case  of  Jack  and  the  Giant.  Hercules,  with 
only  the  head  of  a cocoanut,  is  no  match  against 
brains  and  nimbleness,  whether  of  sprightly  boys 
or  intelligent  princesses. 

Foreign  powers  now  seemed  to  rely  less  on  diplo- 
macy and  reason,  and  more  and  more  on  force  and 
brutality.  One  British  author  even  wrote  a book 
entitled  “The  Break-up  of  China.”  It  was  some- 
thing like  that  of  another  British  historian,  whose 


256 


CHINA’S  STORY 


premature  work  was  entitled  a “ History  of  Fed- 
eral Government  from  the  Amphictyonic  Council 
to  the  Disruption  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica.” 

Beneath  diplomacy  and  war  there  lie  other  mo- 
tives than  political  ambition,  earth-hunger,  martial 
glory,  or  love  of  conquest,  chiefly  commercial. 
Trade  wars  for  markets  are  often  provoked  to 
enrich  a few  men  at  the  expense  of  the  many. 
Economic  conditions  in  America  forced  European 
action.  As  soon  as  steel  could  be  produced  in 
Pittsburg  cheaper  than  in  Europe,  the  United 
States  not  only  ceased  to  be  a market  for  this 
metal,  but  became  an  exporter,  and  the  Europeans 
saw  that  they  must  seek  new  customers.  At  once 
they  made  strenuous  efforts  to  get  at  China’s  un- 
told wealth  of  iron  and  coal. 

To  find  both  market  and  fields  of  profitable  in- 
vestment is  the  motive  underlying  most  of  West- 
ern statecraft  concerning  the  Ear  East.  China’s 
mineral  wealth  exceeds  that  of  ten  Pennsylvanias. 
Within  four  months  from  America’s  economic  in- 
dependence of  Europe,  Germany,  Great  Britain, 
France,  Russia,  and  even  Italy  made  a rush  to  be 
in  at  the  supposed  “ break-up  of  China.”  When 
on  November  1, 1897,  two  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries from  Germany  were  murdered  by  robbers  in 
Shantung,  Germany  landed  troops,  drove  Chinese 
soldiers  out  of  the  forts,  demanded  indemnity,  with 
mining  and  railway  privileges,  and  a lease  of 


THE  BOXER  RIOTS 


257 


Kiao  Chau  for  ninety-nine  years.  Helpless  China 
agreed. 

Russia  demanded  a German-like  lease  of  both 
Port  Arthur  and  Talien  Wan,  and  at  once  began 
building  a great  city  of  empty  houses  called  Dalny. 
At  this  the  Japanese  were  not  surprised.  As  soon 
as  the  Mikado’s  soldiers  evacuated  Wei-hai-wei, 
Great  Britain  took  a twenty-five  years’  lease  of 
the  place,  and  in  1899  secured  more  land  back  of 
Hong  Kong  also.  Italy  sent  a warship  to  demand 
San-men  Bay,  but  was  refused.  Europeans  who 
had  been  making  new  maps  and  dividing  China  up 
into  “ spheres  of  influence  ” wondered  what  was 
the  new  power  that  had  stiffened  China’s  back  to 
refuse  further  vivisection.  They  soon  found  that 
the  empress  dowager  had  returned  to  power. 

Meanwhile  the  Chinese  people,  looking  at  these 
acts  of  European  governments  as  spoliations,  be- 
came more  embittered  than  ever  against  foreign- 
ers. In  addition  to  the  staggering  burdens  of  tax- 
ation imposed  under  the  form  of  indemnities,  the 
so-called  Christian  nations  were  vivisecting  their 
country.  Now  began  the  interior  activities  of  the 
secret  society  of  United  Righteous  Strikers,  called 
later,  by  foreigners,  the  Boxers. 

Hurricane  reform  is  as  dangerous  as  the  dry- 
rot  of  conservatism.  In  1898,  under  the  influence 
of  a patriot,  Kang  Yu  Wei,  the  young  emperor 
Kwang  Si  began  the  issue  of  edicts  of  reform, 
which,  had  they  been  patiently  carried  out,  would 


258 


CHINA’S  STORY 


have  made  a new  life  for  China.  The  civil  service 
examinations  were  entirely  changed,  so  as  to  bring 
the  curriculum  into  harmony  with  modern  needs. 
The  government  was  to  be  reorganized.  A system 
of  public  schools  on  Western  models  was  to  be 
established,  and  the  right  to  petition  the  throne 
was  to  be  given  to  all  officers  throughout  the  em- 
pire. Ardent  and  radical  reformers  rejoiced  at  the 
action  of  the  young  emperor  and  foresaw  a new 
era. 

Looking  at  this  wonderful  programme  from  the 
Western  point  of  view,  it  seemed  right  and  prom- 
ising. The  motives  of  the  refoi'mers  appeared  to 
be  pure  and  their  proceedings  righteous.  The  dawn 
of  the  new  day  was  widely  heralded. 

From  the  Chinese  point  of  view,  however,  es- 
pecially from  that  of  the  Court  in  Peking,  the 
whole  situation  and  the  purposes  of  the  reformers 
were  interpreted  differently.  The  Conservatives 
saw  in  the  new  movement  the  machinations  of 
traitors,  and  the  subversion  of  ancient  customs. 
They  discerned  also  a plot  to  kidnap  and  remove 
the  empress  dowager. 

In  most  old-fashioned  Oriental  schemes  to  se- 
cure unanimity  of  opinion,  even  as  in  some  in- 
stances in  the  West,  the  removal  of  the  heads  of 
opponents  was  part  of  the  proceedings.  The  con- 
servatives, led  by  the  empress,  struck  a blow  for 
their  own  lives,  and,  as  they  believed,  for  the  sta- 
bility of  the  empire.  With  military  force  in  reserve, 


THE  BOXER  RIOTS 


259 


the  empress  dowager,  on  the  22d  of  September, 
1898,  seized  the  person  of  the  young  emperor  and 
made  him  sign  a paper,  in  which  it  was  stated  that 
owing  to  ill-health  — the  stock  pretext  in  Asia  — 
he  was  obliged  to  drop  the  reins  of  government. 
The  same  lady  who  had  lifted  the  baby,  crying, 
out  of  his  cradle,  now  drove  the  grown  man  off 
the  throne. 

The  dowager  empress  became  regent  of  the 
empire,  and  the  reformers  were  hunted  out  and 
banished  or  beheaded.  With  the  ultra-conserva- 
tives around  her  and  now  in  power,  she,  in  the 
emperor’s  name,  by  the  decree  of  September  26, 
negatived  the  proposed  reforms.  The  spirit  of  the 
government  became  more  anti-foreign.  Secret  plots 
to  rid  China  of  all  aliens,  whose  modern  machin- 
ery, both  political  and  commercial,  threatened  the 
very  existence  of  the  hoary  empire,  were  undoubt- 
edly encouraged  at  court.  Lest  the  reform  spirit 
might  break  out  afresh  and  the  men  of  new  mind 
rally  round  the  young  emperor,  the  empress  dow- 
ager compelled  her  nephew  to  issue  a decree  on  the 
Chinese  New  Year’s  Day,  January  31,  1900,  an- 
nouncing that  he  had  abdicated.  Despite  all  pro- 
tests, native  and  foreign,  which  only  confirmed 
her  purpose,  she  had  her  own  way.  A reign  of  ter- 
ror against  all  reformers  was  instituted.  Prince 
Tuan’s  son,  a little  boy,  was  made  heir  apparent. 

In  all  these  proceedings  the  empress  was  prob- 
ably actuated  only  by  one  dominating  motive,  — 


260 


CHINA’S  STORY 


to  prevent  what  foreigners  had  proclaimed  “ the 
break-up  of  China,”  and  to  save  her  country  and 
people.  There  were  too  many  eagles  gathered  to- 
gether waiting  for  the  expected  corpse.  She  post- 
poned the  feast.  The  language  of  one  of  her  de- 
crees, like  a window  looking  to  the  sun,  lets  in  a 
great  light  upon  the  situation.  It  was  as  noble  an 
address  to  her  people  as  was  Queen  Elizabeth’s  to 
Englishmen  in  face  of  the  Spanish  Armada  : — 

“ Let  no  one  think  of  making  peace,  but  let 
each  strive  to  preserve  from  destruction  and  spo- 
liation by  the  ruthless  hand  of  the  invader  his 
ancestral  home  and  graves.” 

This  was  the  Chinese  woman’s  way  of  striking 
back  at  the  spoilers,  who  under  threat  of  battle- 
ships and  armies  of  invasion  had  forced  China  to 
let  them  occupy  her  soil,  and  who  ruthlessly  dis- 
ordered China’s  ancient  industrial  system. 

The  hundreds  of  thousands  of  rice-winners 
thrown  out  of  employment  made  good  material 
for  agitators  to  work  upon.  The  Buddhist  priests 
used  diligently  their  opportunity  to  organize  a 
campaign  against  the  foreign  religion.  The  con- 
servative Manchus  at  court,  maddened  by  their  re- 
peated humiliations  at  the  hands  of  the  Euro- 
peans, were  ready  to  utilize  any  movement,  even 
apparently  anti-dynastic,  that  promised  to  rid  their 
country  of  the  aliens.  In  their  treatment  of  China 
and  principles  of  diplomacy,  these  Europeans 
seemed  to  defy  Heaven  and  all  righteousness. 


THE  BOXER  RIOTS 


261 


In  the  Confucian  province  of  Shantung,  a so- 
ciety had  been  formed  whose  original  purpose  was 
to  expel  the  foreigners — Manchus.  They  were 
the  Know-Nothings  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  As 
European  aggression  increased,  these  men  attrib- 
uted the  woes  of  China  to  the  misrule  of  the  Tar- 
tar dynasty  in  Peking,  and  to  the  cowardice  of 
their  rulers  in  yielding  to  the  Westerners.  Because 
these  “ Fisters  ” were  so  anti-foreign  in  spirit,  the 
Manchus  opposed  to  reform  were  able  to  turn  them 
to  their  own  purpose. 

Their  name,  composed  of  three  Chinese  char- 
acters meaning  Righteousness,  Unity,  and  Fists, 
may  be  translated  Harmonious  Holy  Pugilists,  or 
Righteous  United  Fisters,  or  Strikers,  or,  in  short, 
Boxers.  Armed  for  the  most  part  only  with  arrows, 
swords,  and  spears,  they  began  to  drill  in  bodies 
during  the  autumn  of  1899.  Few  were  accustomed 
to  guns  and  cartridges,  and  no  large  number  of 
them  ever  mastered  the  use  of  firearms.  They 
knew  nothing  of  the  tactics  of  real  soldiers,  or  of 
the  idea  of  unity  of  operations  in  a large  army. 
This  fact  afterwards  proved  the  salvation  of  the 
besieged  in  Peking.  Misled  largely  by  Taoist  and 
Buddhist  priests,  the  Boxers  depended  on  charms 
and  incantations,  believing  themselves  invulner- 
able to  the  bullets  of  the  aliens,  who,  they  im- 
agined, could  be  hypnotized  and  their  missiles 
rendered  harmless. 

From  first  to  last  the  Boxer  uprising  was  no- 


262 


CHINA’S  STORY 


thing  but  a riot  on  a large  scale,  with  which  at 
first  the  Peking  mandarins  were  unable  to  cope. 
Happily  the  authorities  at  Washington,  learning 
this  fact  promptly,  were  saved  from  foolish  diplo- 
macy. No  regular  soldiers  fired  a hostile  shot,  nor 
did  the  Chinese  government  order,  or  let  loose,  its 
army  against  the  Westerners,  until  the  allied 
Europeans  and  Japanese  — the  Americans  refus- 
ing to  join  in  the  “ entangling  alliance  ” — had 
wantonly  begun  war  against  a friendly  nation  by 
firing  upon  and  destroying  the  Chinese  forts  at 
Taku. 

The  Boxers  struck  first  at  the  native  Christians, 
because  they  identified  these  as  “ foreigner-Chi- 
nese,”  who  were  supposed  to  approve  of  the  doings 
of  Europeans,  the  common  people  not  being  able 
to  discriminate  between  the  governments  and  the 
missionaries,  or  the  differing  motives  of  the  vari- 
ous foreigners.  With  what  looked  like  the  impend- 
ing division  of  the  empire  among  aliens,  neither 
the  local  mandarins  nor  those  in  the  central  gov- 
ernment were  zealous  in  punishing  the  rioters, 
who  were  thus  made  bold  to  other  excesses. 

Furthermore,  since  it  was  possible  to  believe 
anything  in  old  China,  both  the  imperial  troops 
and  the  local  magistrates  were  terrified,  thinking 
that  the  Boxers  possessed  magical  powers  and 
arts.  In  Shantung  and  northern  China,  therefore, 
the  mandarins  shrunk  from  strong  measures.  In 
the  centre  and  south,  where  a vigorous  preventive 


THE  BOXER  RIOTS 


263 


attitude  was  assumed  by  province  governors,  few 
or  no  symptoms  of  the  Boxer  madness  manifested 
themselves,  and  foreigners  were  safe.  In  its  ac- 
tual outbreak,  in  1900,  the  Boxer  movement  was 
wholly  a northern  affair. 

The  missionaries,  living  among  the  people  and 
understanding  their  language,  had  long  before 
warned  the  legations  of  their  danger,  but  their 
words  were  not  taken  seriously.  As  a matter  of 
fact,  few  of  the  diplomatists  had  been  long  in 
China,  or  knew  the  country  or  people  well.  Hap- 
pily, however,  convinced  of  their  critical  situation, 
they  secured  by  telegrams  several  hundred  marines 
and  sailors,  sent  June  8,  from  the  warships.  Then 
they  were  isolated  from  the  world,  for  the  wires 
were  cut  and  the  rails,  rolling  stock,  and  stations 
of  the  railway  destroyed.  The  first  property  in- 
jured by  the  Boxers  was  that  supposed  by  them 
to  have  taken  the  rice  out  of  their  mouths. 

All  the  foreigners  in  the  capital  and  the  native 
Christians,  making  common  cause,  assembled  in 
the  legation  quarter.  This,  fortified  under  the 
directions  of  Rev.  F.  D.  Gamewell,  the  American 
missionary-engineer,  was  soon  surrounded  by  the 
rioters.  So  far,  however,  not  one  national  sol- 
dier had  fired  a shot,  for  this  was  a riot,  which 
the  Peking  government  was  unable  to  quell.  In 
the  Imperial  Council  some  mandarins  were  only 
reasonably  friendly  to  foreigners,  while  others 
were  stalwart  against  the  idea  of  injuring  them. 


264 


CHINA’S  STORY 


breaking  the  faith  of  treaties,  or  showing  any 
sympathy  with  the  rioters.  But  their  strong  arm 
of  righteousness  was  paralyzed  by  the  action  of 
the  allies  in  wantonly  making  war  on  China,  as 
we  shall  see. 

Knowing  the  awful  danger  of  their  countrymen 
beleaguered  in  Peking,  the  British  Admiral  Sey- 
mour and  the  American  Captain  McCalla  quickly 
organized  a force  of  a thousand  men.  These, 
hastily  equipped  and  poorly  provisioned,  reached 
Tien  Tsin  June  10.  Beyond  this  point  the  rails 
were  torn  up.  It  was  slow  work  repairing  the 
railway,  and  the  rioters  were  swarming  around 
them,  but  they  bravely  fought  their  way  forward 
until  provisions  gave  out,  and  they  were  obliged 
to  retreat.  Now  began  their  surprises  and  terrible 
disasters. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


THE  ALLIES  MAKE  WAR  ON  CHINA 

On  the  advance,  not  one  shot  had  been  fired 
by  any  but  the  rioters,  but  on  coming  back,  from 
the  morning  of  June  18,  the  Chinese  soldiers  in 
uniform  were  firing  at  Admiral  Seymour’s  force 
from  all  sides.  In  Peking,  the  Japanese  chancellor 
of  legation  on  June  11,  and  the  German  ambassar 
dor,  Baron  von  Ketteler,  on  June  20,  were  killed. 

What  was  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  and  what 
were  the  reasons  for  this  apparent  change,  in  that 
the  enemy,  being  now  of  the  regular  army  under 
orders  of  the  government,  took  the  place  of  the 
rioters?  For  this  action  of  the  Chinese  regulars 
the  commanders  of  the  warships  of  all  the  foreign 
powers,  then  in  Chinese  waters,  except  those  of 
the  United  States,  under  Rear  Admiral  Louis 
Kempff,  were  wholly  responsible,  as  an  account 
of  their  action  shows. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Pei-ho  River  leading  to 
Peking,  and  near  the  Taku  forts  which  guarded 
the  entrance,  the  warships  of  eight  allied  nations, 
the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  Russia,  Ger- 
many, France,  Italy,  Austria,  and  Japan,  were 
lying.  There  was  no  real  necessity  of  any  hostility 


266 


CHINA’S  STORY 


against  these  forts,  but  the  foreign  admirals  on 
June  16  demanded  their  surrender  or  evacuation. 

The  American  admiral  Louis  Kempff,  trained 
under  Farragut,  showed  himself  the  bravest  of  the 
brave  by  refusing  to  use  force  and  shed  blood 
when  China  and  the  United  States  were  at  peace. 
The  Peking  government  was  embarrassed  with  a 
riot  on  a large  scale.  It  was  another  insurrection, 
and  threatened  to  be  as  great  as  the  Tai  Ping  up- 
rising. Admiral  Kempff  had  received  no  orders 
from  his  superiors  at  Washington.  He  had  to  act 
according  to  his  judgment  as  a good  American, 
and  his  conscience  was  clear.  The  unbroken  tra- 
dition binding  the  United  States  and  China  was 
that  of  peace.  There  had  never  been  war  or  real 
hostilities  between  the  two  countries,  the  affair 
at  the  Canton  forts  in  1856  being  an  episode  with- 
out meaning.  W ashington  had  laid  down  the  prin- 
ciple and  made  the  precedent  against  entangling 
alliances  with  European  nations,  and  this  policy 
had  been  scrupulously  followed  by  every  presi- 
dent. To  fire  on  these  Taku  forts  was  a wanton 
act  of  needless  war. 

Admiral  Kempff  refused  to  join  in  the  lawless 
act.  He  warned  his  colleagues  that  their  pro- 
cedure would  unite  the  Chinese  against  all  for- 
eigners, and  immediately  render  the  situation  at 
Tien  Tsin  and  Peking  more  dangerous.  He  pleaded 
in  vain.  Kempff  was  the  kind  of  man  needed  to 
represent  the  United  States  in  the  Far  East.  Of 


REAR  ADMIRAL  LOUIS  KEMPFF,  U.  S.  N. 


THE  ALLIES  MAKE  WAR  ON  CHINA  267 


physical  valor  and  brute  force  we  have  had  enough. 
Our  race  does  not  lack  in  these.  Of  moral  cour- 
age, like  that  of  Washington,  Perry,  and  Harris, 
for  example,  we  have  never  had  as  yet  enough, 
and  ever  need  more. 

The  ultimatum  was  served  at  night.  It  de- 
manded the  surrender  by  two  A.  M.  Bravely  and  as 
a true  patriot  the  commander  of  the  forts  refused, 
and  notified  his  government  at  Peking.  The 
Chinese  nobly  defended  their  flag  and  country 
for  six  hours.  Then  a shell  from  the  Algerine,  of 
the  British  navy,  blew  up  the  main  magazine,  and 
the  fort  was  in  ruins,  on  June  17. 

The  first  shot  fired  at  the  Taku  forts  united  all 
China  against  the  hated  foreigner.  It  was  worth 
everything  to  the  anti-foreign  mandarins  in  the 
government  council  at  Peking.  It  was  exactly  what 
they  were  waiting  and  hoping  for.  It  fully  jus- 
tified their  attitude.  The  Chinese  government 
immediately  declared  war  against  the  invaders, 
and  the  Tsung-li  Yamen,  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  world,  served  notice  on  the  foreign  ministers 
to  leave  Peking  within  twenty-four  hours,  guar- 
anteeing safe  conduct.  The  Boxers  were  now 
recognized  as  militia  and  helpers  of  the  govern- 
ment against  the  men  who  had  declared  war  upon 
China. 

Meanwhile  the  rioters,  now  incited  from  Pe- 
king,  proceeded  with  their  murderous  work,  de- 
stroying the  property  of  the  native  Christians  and 


268 


CHINA’S  STORY 


of  the  missions.  Nearly  seven-score  missionary 
people  lost  their  lives,  but  this  number,  great  as 
it  was,  was  only  a fraction  of  the  loss  suffered 
by  their  Chinese  fellow  believers,  of  whom  many 
thousands  were  put  to  death,  and  for  none  of 
their  losses  were  the  living  compensated. 

Now  sounded  the  call  for  an  allied  army  for 
the  rescue  of  the  legations.  Eight  nations  re- 
sponded. elapan  sent  the  splendid  Hiroshima 
division,  making  a total  of  twenty-one  thousand 
of  her  men  on  ship  and  shore,  and  mostly  veter- 
ans. Russia  soon  had  eight  thousand  soldiers  on 
the  ground. 

The  United  States,  however,  was  the  first  to 
have,  with  twenty-eight  hundred  men  under  Gen- 
eral A.  R.  Chaffee,  a definite  policy  of  action,  and 
was  the  only  country  that  did.  Its  theory  of 
action,  based  on  over  a hundred  years  of  consist- 
ent friendship,  and  especially  upon  the  action  of 
Admiral  Kempff,  was  this : China  was  a friendly 
power,  ever  at  peace  with  the  United  States.  The 
Boxer  movement  was  a riot  on  a large  scale. 
After  relieving  their  citizens,  insuring  protection, 
and  receiving  indemnity,  the  Americans  would 
leave  the  country.  They  had  no  business  to  remain 
after  the  diplomatic  settlement  was  over.  China 
must  save  herself.  In  the  American  view,  there 
was  to  be  no  break-up  of  China.  At  Washington, 
during  the  siege  of  the  legations,  acting  on  the 
Chinese  minister  Wu’s  petition,  Mr.  John  Hay, 


THE  ALLIES  MAKE  WAR  ON  CHINA  269 


Secretary  of  State,  had  refused  to  believe  that  the 
foreigners  in  Peking  had  been  massacred.  Pa- 
tience was  rewarded  and  a telegram  received  in 
Washington  from  our  minister,  Mr.  Conger. 

Of  the  diplomacy  of  President  McKinley  and 
Secretary  Hay,  the  action  of  Admiral  Kempff, 
in  maintaining  the  American  peace  policy  with 
China,  formed  the  basis.  This  insistence  on  the 
integrity  of  China  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
“ break-up  ” theory. 

Now  began  the  march  to  Peking.  Had  the  J ap- 
anese  been  allowed  to  go  forward  at  once  and 
alone,  they  could  easily  have  performed  the  work 
without  aid,  and  the  legations  would  have  been 
relieved  a month  sooner  than  they  were.  The  cos- 
mopolitan relief  force  did  not  start  for  Peking 
until  August  4.  Before  this,  Tien  Tsin,  now 
strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned  by  Chinese  reg- 
ulars, must  be  taken.  The  first  assault  of  the  allies 
failed.  Then  the  Japanese  blew  up  a gate  and 
resistlessly  stormed  walls  and  city.  After  bloody 
fighting,  the  Chinese  retreated.  In  this  campaign, 
the  American  naval  force,  under  Admiral  Kempff, 
and  the  Ninth  U.  S.  Infantry,  were  especially 
active,  but  the  brave  Colonel  Liscum  was  slain. 

On  the  hot  and  dry  march  to  Peking,  the  Jap- 
anese, with  modern  appliances,  including  filtered 
water,  were  in  the  advance,  but  had  to  wait  for 
the  Russians,  who  averaged  only  four  miles  a day. 
These  selected  the  best  villages,  wells,  and  camp- 


270 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ing  places.  In  their  dust,  the  Americans  marched 
next,  selecting  such  sites  and  drinking  water  as 
might  be  left.  The  English  forces  (including  a 
drilled  regiment  of  Chinese  from  Wei-hai-wei), 
German  marines,  Italians,  Austrians,  etc.,  fol- 
lowed. Of  the  entire  host,  the  Japanese  lost  the 
fewest  men  by  sickness  in  proportion  to  their 
numbers.  In  this  international  school  of  war 
many  lessons  were  learned,  the  Mikado’s  men 
losing  all  fear  of  the  Czar’s  soldiers  after  seeing 
them  on  the  march  and  in  camp. 

Meanwhile  in  Peking  there  could  be  no  unity 
in  the  councils  of  the  regular  Chinese  and  the 
Boxers.  Furthermore,  some  of  the  best  men  in 
the  government,  though  discouraged  at  the  treach- 
ery of  the  foreigners  in  firing  on  the  Taku  forts, 
tried  by  warnings  to  restrain  excesses.  Hence  the 
safety  of  the  besieged.  Many  buildings  near  the 
legations  were  fired  in  the  hope  of  burning  out 
the  foreigners.  In  the  defense  the  American 
marines,  brave,  alert,  and  efficient,  covered  them- 
selves with  glory  and  greatly  aided  the  prospects 
of  holding  out.  The  native  Christians  were  con- 
tinually at  work  on  fortification  or  repair. 

The  advance  of  the  rescuing  expedition  reached 
Peking  August  14,  and  the  city  was  taken  next 
day.  As  the  rescuers  entered,  the  court  and  em- 
press fled,  and  the  seat  of  government  was  set  up 
in  the  west  at  Sian  Fu. 

For  the  missionaries  and  diplomatists  there 


THE  ALLIES  MAKE  WAR  ON  CHINA  271 


were  rescue,  food,  and  certain  indemnity ; but 
what  of  the  native  Christians  exiled  from  their 
homes  and  fields,  of  which  only  vestiges  remained  T 
Where  was  even  food  to  come  from  ? In  such  a 
crisis,  brave  men,  like  the  American  Dr.  Ament, 
went  out  into  the  open  country.  According  to  jus- 
tice and  immemorial  custom  in  China,  he  com- 
pelled the  village  elders,  who  had  connived  at,  or 
encouraged  the  Boxers,  to  furnish  supplies  of 
food.  From  the  confiscated  property  in  Peking, 
money  was  obtained  to  support  the  native  Chris- 
tians until  they  could  be  sent  home.  This  action 
was  misunderstood  and  maligned  at  home  by  a 
popular  author.  He  “ caught  a Tartar  ” in  attack- 
ing Dr.  Ament,  who  showed  the  true  facts. 

Admiral  Kempff,  the  hero  who  had  vindicated 
the  noblest  American  traditions,  instead  of  being 
rewarded  as  Admiral  Dewey,  for  example,  had 
been,  received  no  thanks,  and  was  relegated  to 
routine  duty  in  the  Philippines.  Yet  on  his  right- 
eous action  was  based  the  diplomacy  which  fol- 
lowed, in  which  the  United  States  led  the  wav. 
This  was  because  our  State  Department  had  a 
definite  policy,  the  policy  inaugurated  by  George 
Washington  and  fixed  by  over  a hundred  years' 
precedents  given  by  American  merchants,  ex. 
plorers,  and  missionaries,  whose  theory  and  prac- 
tice were  the  exact  reverse  of  those  of  other  West- 
ern peoples. 

In  Europe,  the  traditional  idea  concerning  the 


272 


CHINA’S  STORY 


countries  of  Asia  was  that  they  exist  to  be  con« 
quered  and  made  part  of  European  empires.  At 
the  antipodes  of  such  a notion,  which  was  based 
on  the  exploded  dogma  of  the  divine  right  of 
kings  and  the  supposed  privilege  of  the  white  race 
to  dominate  all  others,  was  the  American  doctrine 
that  Asian  humanity  does  not  exist  for  conquest  or 
possession,  but  that  her  peoples  are  to  be  treated 
as  brothers,  to  be  taught,  helped,  and  healed. 
Such  a creed  had  been  exemplified  for  over  a cen- 
tury by  Americans.  President  McKinley,  Admiral 
Kempff,  Secretary  John  Hay,  and  Elihu  Root,  as 
servants  of  the  American  people,  merely  declared 
to  the  world  and  registered  the  verdict  which  had 
long  ago  been  given  by  American  commerce, 
Christianity,  and  diplomacy. 

In  the  looting  of  Peking,  the  savagery  that  lurks 
even  in  the  civilized  nations  of  Christendom  broke 
loose,  the  Russians,  French,  and  Germans  showing 
especially  relapse  into  needless  slaughter  of  inno- 
cent people  and  brutal  treatment  of  women.  The 
main  body  of  the  Germans  arrived  after  the  real 
work  of  rescue  was  over.  The  Europeans,  indeed 
all  except  the  Americans,  recognized  Count  von 
Waldersee  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  so-called 
“ punitive  expeditions,”  that  devastated  the  coun- 
try in  the  name  of  God.  Prince  Ching  and  Li 
Hung  Chang,  as  plenipotentiaries,  acted  with  the 
foreign  diplomatic  agents  at  the  council  table. 

The  punishment  of  China  was  made  so  severe 


THE  ALLIES  MAKE  WAR  ON  CHINA  273 


that  the  American  conscience  revolted.  Several  of 
the  missionary  societies  refused  to  apply  for  or 
receive  indemnity.  After  all  just  claims  of  Amer- 
ican citizens  had  been  settled,  the  government  at 
Washington  returned  the  unexpended  remainder. 
This  fund  was  immediately  invested  by  the  Peking 
government  for  the  education  of  scores  of  Chinese 
youth  in  America. 

After  many  long  sessions  and  the  voting  down 
of  many  ridiculous  propositions,  the  articles  which 
were  signed  secured  the  integrity  of  China,  in- 
demnity to  foreigners  to  the  amount  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  million  taels,  — but  none  to  the 
native  Christians,  — the  abolition  of  the  Tsung- 
li  Yamen,  and  the  creation  of  a state  department 
of  foreign  affairs,  to  rank  above  the  Ministers  of 
State,  the  death  penalty  upon  eleven  princes  or 
mandarins  named,  the  razing  of  the  Taku  forts, 
prohibition  of  the  importation  of  arms  and  war 
material,  provision  for  foreign  guards  at  the  capi- 
tal, and  the  suspension  of  provincial  examinations 
in  the  Boxer  districts  for  five  years.  Where  Baron 
von  Ketteler  was  killed,  a memorial  structure  was 
built,  and  an  imperial  prince  went  in  person  to 
Berlin  and  presented  apologies  to  the  Kaiser. 

Again  the  poor  people  of  China  were  called 
upon  to  endure  an  increase  of  the  already  crush- 
ing burdens  of  taxation,  to  pay  within  forty  years 
the  foreigners’  mulct. 

At  Arlington,  near  Washington,  are  the  eloquent 


274 


CHINA’S  STORY 


tombs  of  Liscum  and  Reilly,  who  led  our  brave 
soldiers  in  China.  In  Saint  J ames  Park,  London, 
is  a statue  in  bronze  of  the  English  rescuers  and 
defenders,  with  bas-reliefs  showing  men  of  two 
nations,  British  and  American,  of  the  same  race 
and  language,  defending  the  legations.  In  better 
days  to  come,  the  heroes  who  refuse  to  fight  un- 
justly will  also  be  honored  in  enduring  bronze. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


THE  RUSSO-JAPANESE  WAR:  ITS  RESULTSS 

While  the  United  States,  at  the  very  first 
possible  moment,  kept  faith  and  set  a good  ex- 
ample in  withdrawing  the  American  troops,  Russia 
showed  unmistakably  her  policy  — as  old  as  Peter 
the  Great  — of  securing  frontage  on  the  sea,  with 
a seaport  open  in  winter.  Baffled,  after  the  Russo- 
Turkish  War,  in  her  hereditary  march  on  Con- 
stantinople, by  the  firmness  of  Great  Britain,  she 
now  turned  her  energies  into  railroad  building 
eastward,  and  waited  for  a pretext  that  should 
enable  her  to  dominate  Manchuria,  absorb  Korea, 
humble  Japan,  and  keep  China  in  subservience. 
So  at  least  the  imperialistic  Russian  newspapers 
intimated. 

When  a Chinese  general  attacked  some  Cossacks, 
one  of  these  pretexts  was  availed  of.  In  revenge, 
the  Russians  drove  a multitude  of  Chinese  men, 
women,  and  children  from  the  city  into  the  Amoor 
River,  slaughtering  thousands  of  them.  Another 
pretext  was  the  state  of  disorder  in  Manchuria,  to 
cure  which,  Russia  insisted  that  it  was  necessary 
to  occupy  large  portions  of  the  province  with  hei 
military  forces.  She  claimed  from  China,  for  hav- 
ing assisted  so  largely  in  suppressing  the  Boxer 


276 


CHINA’S  STORY 


uprising,  the  right  to  lease  Manchuria,  occupy  Port 
Arthur,  and,  before  she  had  people  to  occupy  it, 
build  Dalny,  a great  city,  with  granite  piers  pro- 
viding facilities  for  prospective  trade  by  land  and 
sea.  Yet  all  this  time,  and  until  1904,  beside  mil- 
itary and  railway  men,  the  number  of  Russian 
subjects  in  Manchuria  was  not  over  one  thousand. 
Japan,  whose  interests  were  equally  great,  had  on 
the  same  soil  at  least  ten  thousand  of  her  people 
engaged  in  legitimate  business. 

Although  Russia  promised  to  evacuate  Manchu- 
ria by  October  8,  1903,  yet  the  only  signs  she 
showed  were  those  of  remaining.  Her  building  was 
of  the  sort  that  meant  permanent  occupation. 
Japan  took  the  alarm  and  made  protest.  The 
American  government,  considering  that  Manchu- 
ria belonged  to  China,  made  a new  treaty  at 
Peking,  signed  October  8,  1903,  opening  Mukden 
and  An  Tung  to  trade.  Russia,  however,  refused 
to  allow  American  consuls  to  enter. 

While  diplomacy  was  active  between  Tokyo 
and  St.  Petersburg,  the  Russians  increased  their 
army  on  land  and  gathered  twenty-six  war  vessels 
at  Port  Arthur.  As  J apan  and  Great  Britain  had 
made  an  alliance,  the  island  empire  was  able  to 
face  Russia  boldly,  especially  as  her  new  steel 
battleships  were  on  their  way  from  England,  ready 
for  immediate  use.  When  diplomacy  ceased  on 
February  6,  1904,  war  at  once  began. 

Those  who  knew  the  greatness  of  the  Japanese 


THE  RUSSO-JAPANESE  WAR 


277 


people  and  what  Japan,  with  foreign  help,  had 
been  doing  during  the  previous  thirty-five  years, 
in  educating  her  people,  in  renovating  the  moral 
and  physical  condition  of  the  masses,  and  in  train- 
ing an  army  and  a navy,  knew  there  was  scarcely 
the  ghost  of  a chance  of  success  for  the  Russians. 
Bluster  would  never  make  up  for  good  gunnery. 
On  sea,  it  would  fare  with  the  Muscovites  little 
better  than  it  did  with  the  Mongols.  On  land,  a 
public  school  army  would  face  a mass  of  brave 
but  ignorant  men.  It  was  not  a war  of  religion, 
of  creed,  of  color,  or  of  race,  but  a struggle  in 
the  interest  of  truth  and  justice.  The  field  of 
battle  would  be  on  China’s  soil  and  in  Chinese 
waters. 

In  three  days,  one  third  of  Russia’s  navy  was 
damaged  or  destroyed.  Within  sixty  hours,  two 
divisions  of  the  Mikado’s  army  were  in  Korea, 
and  in  the  first  battle,  on  the  Yalu  River,  the 
Russians  were  beaten.  Then  followed  victory 
after  victory  for  the  Japanese.  Port  Arthur,  after 
a long  siege,  surrendered  January  1,  1905.  On 
March  10,  after  a three  weeks’  fight,  Mukden, 
the  goal  of  the  war,  was  entered.  The  second  or 
Baltic  Russian  fleet  was  destroyed  on  May  27. 
Intelligence,  science,  the  modern  spirit,  unity  of 
counsel,  thorough  preparation,  first-class  gener- 
alship, honesty,  and  valor  had  prevailed  over 
medieval  methods  and  spirit,  division  in  coun- 
cil, bureaucratic  corruption,  and  poor  leadership. 


278 


CHINA’S  STORY 


By  invitation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  peace  plenipotentiaries  from  the  Czar  and 
the  Mikado  met  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
and  agreed  upon  terms  of  peace.  The  treaty  was 
signed  September  5,  1905.  China  was  allowed  no 
voice  in  these  deliberations,  the  results  of  which 
so  vitally  affected  her  own  interests.  Southern 
Manchuria  became,  for  a time  at  least,  virtually 
a Japanese,  and  the  central  and  northern  part  a 
Russian,  possession,  and  Korea  was  absorbed  in 
the  Japanese  Empire. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


AWAKENED  CHINA 

The  key  to  the  real  history  of  awakened  China, 
since  1895,  may  perhaps  be  found  in  an  imperial 
autograph  proclamation  issued  in  May  of  that 
year,  which  declared  that  “ henceforth  the  truth 
will  be  supported  by  the  State.”  China’s  most 
deeply  seated  disease  was  thus  advertised.  The 
document  itself  laid  open  the  interior  weakness 
and  official  corruption  in  the  empire  as  frankly 
as  an  enemy  or  alien  could  do  it.  China’s  most 
prolific  source  of  corruption  is  “ face  her  great- 
est need  is  “truth  in  the  inward  parts.” 

Over  a half  century  ago,  Dr.  S.  Wells  Wil- 
liams wrote  : “ The  want  of  truth  and  integrity 
weakens  every  part  of  the  social  fabric.  China, 
alone,  of  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth,  has 
even  now  no  national  silver  or  gold  coin  and  no 
bank  bills,  the  only  currency  being  a miserable 
copper-iron  coin,  so  debased  as  not  to  pay  coun- 
terfeiters to  imitate  it.”  Japan  has  had  a gold  and 
silver  coinage  since  1871,  yet  in  popular  notion, 
commercial  integrity  is  higher  in  the  older  than  in 
the  younger  country.  Now,  happily,  China,  awak- 
ening to  the  reality  of  w^at  wa^  stalled  long  ago, 
seems  more  and  more  determined  to  rely  oil  show- 


280 


CHINA’S  STORY 


ing  the  true  inwardness  of  things  than  of  hiding 
or  saving  the  “ face  ” of  them. 

After  the  treaty  of  Portsmouth,  in  September, 
1905,  the  Mikado’s  minister,  Baron  Komura,  went 
to  Peking.  China  accepted  the  situation,  realizing 
that  for  generations  to  come  that  part  of  her  ter- 
ritory, most  sacred  in  the  history  of  the  Manchu 
dynasty  and  most  promising  in  her  future  devel- 
opment, must  remain  in  the  hands  of  Russia  and 
Japan,  — which  would  doubtless  soon,  by  absorb- 
ing Korea,  become  a continental  power.  As  mat- 
ter of  fact,  the  once  peninsular  kingdom,  with  its 
twelve  million  souls,  was  made  a province  of 
Japan,  under  the  name  of  Chosen  (Morning  Calm) 
in  August,  1910. 

Nippon  and  Muscovy  began  in  earnest  to  develop 
trade  and  railways  in  Manchuria.  The  former 
aimed  to  connect  the  Russian  and  Chinese  sys- 
tems with  those  in  Korea,  so  that  with  steamer 
communication  from  Tsuruga  to  Fusan  and  Vla- 
divostok, making  a ferry  of  the  Sea  of  Japan,  she 
would  be  in  quick  and  easy  touch  with  Europe. 
Russia  perfected  her  transatlantic  lines  of  rail- 
way. In  1910  the  two  peoples  lately  at  war  en- 
tered into  a compact  of  friendship,  with  mutual 
purpose  to  maintain  their  rights  in  Manchuria. 
They  also  rejected  a proposition  from  Washing- 
ton to  have  the  railways  on  Chinese  soil  open  to 
international  capitalization. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Chino- Japanese 


YUAN  SHI  KAI 
Li  Hung  Chang’s  successor 


. 


• ^ \ 
.V. 


- r 


r 


T 


r: 


AWAKENED  CHINA 


281 


War,  Yuan  Shi  Kai,  who  in  Korea  and  at  home 
had  made  a reputation  for  energy  and  patriotism, 
had  been  selected  to  do  the  work  of  creating  a mod- 
ern army,  with  uniform  weapons,  equipment,  and 
commissariat  according  to  the  best  models.  For 
several  years,  and  with  great  energy.  Yuan  gave 
himself  to  this  work  until  a creditable  force  of  infan- 
try, cavalry,  artillery,  and  engineers  was  organized, 
while  many  young  men  were  sent  to  Europe  to 
study  in  its  military  schools.  Later,  through  one 
of  the  outbreaks  at  court,  between  the  various 
struggling  and  conflicting  parties,  this  mandarin 
was  deprived  of  his  rank  under  the  “ face  ’’  of  (im- 
aginary) rheumatism  and  retired  to  private  life, 
but  the  work  went  on. 

Meanwhile  there  was  a great  exodus  of  native 
students  from  every  province  in  the  Chinese  Em- 
pire to  Japan.  In  mind,  they  were  exactly  like 
the  Japanese  of  fifty  years  before,  for  most  of 
these  eager  youths  imagined  that  they  could  learn 
the  secrets  of  Western  civilization  in  a few  months, 
and  having  imbibed  the  knowledge  necessary, 
could  reconstruct  old  China  in  a very  few  years. 
Turning  with  contempt  from  foreigners,  mission- 
ary or  commercial,  to  their  fellow  Asiatics,  with 
great  expectations  and  not  infrequently  with  sedi- 
tious motives  and  anti  - dynastic  hostility,  they 
hastened  to  Tokyo  to  the  number  of  twenty  thou- 
sand or  more,  giving  the  resident  Chinese  minister 
and  the  J apanese  government  a problem  in  keeping 


282 


CHINA’S  STORY 


them  in  moral  harness.  The  differences  in  spirit 
and  manners  and  the  difficulties  of  language  be- 
tween the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  added  to  those 
of  personal  finance,  chilled  the  noble  rage  of 
these  enthusiastic  young  fellows,  thus  unduly 
tested.  More  than  half  of  them  soon  returned, 
some  with  just  enough  knowledge  to  make  them 
dangerous.  Returning  to  China,  they  led  riotous 
demonstrations  against  their  magistrates  at  home 
with  a view  of  influencing  the  government  to  drive 
the  Japanese  out  of  Manchuria.  Thousands,  how- 
ever, remained  in  Japan,  becoming  pupils  who  re- 
alized the  greatness  of  the  noble  tasks  still  in  the 
future  before  them.  Hundreds  of  Chinese  girls 
were  sent  to  Japan  and  to  Western  countries. 
Nearly  five  hundred  students,  including  scores  of 
“indemnity  students,”  have  come  to  the  United 
States  at  the  suggestion  of  the  government  at 
Washington,  to  be  educated  from  the  funds  re- 
turned from  the  over-charge  of  the  Boxer  in- 
demnity. These  Chinese  students  abroad,  male 
and  female,  have  altered  their  coiffure,  dress  in 
Western  fashion,  hold  annual  conventions,  belong 
to  cosmopolitan  clubs,  and  in  every  way  are  en- 
deavoring to  absorb  what  is  best  in  the  world’s 
civilization. 

At  home  in  China,  economic  and  intellectual 
reconstruction  proceeded  rapidly.  Vernacular 
newspapers  started  up  in  the  seaports,  cities,  and 
provinces.  Events,  persons,  and  tendencies  are 


AWAKENED  CHINA 


283 


discussed  with  startling  freedom,  which  often  in 
the  foreign  settlements  runs  into  license,  revealing 
a love  of  scandal  and  depths  of  immorality  that 
are  horrible.  Yet  there  is  steady  improvement  in 
Chinese  journalism. 

Even  more  wonderful  is  the  reconstruction  of 
education.  The  old  examination  halls  are  deserted 
or  in  ruins.  Imperial  edicts  called  for  the  creation 
of  a national  system  of  public  schools  to  be  sus- 
tained by  taxation.  By  the  decree  of  1910,  Eng- 
lish is  made  the  official  language  in  all  the  higher 
scientific  and  technical  schools.  The  curriculum 
of  the  civil  service  examinations  has  been  entirely 
modernized.  The  difficulty  of  finding  competent 
teachers  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  impediments 
to  the  educational  progress  of  China.  Nevertheless, 
the  desire  and  intention  to  master  the  secrets  of 
Western  progress  and  a perception  of  the  neces- 
sity of  being  equal  to  the  other  nations  in  modern 
knowledge  are  manifest  both  in  the  government  and 
among  the  people.  The  old  objections,  criticism 
and  denunciation  of  Christian  missionary  work, 
have  weakened.  All  teachers  of  religion  find  a 
more  free  spirit  of  inquiry  and  open-mindedness 
to  receive  new  ideas. 

Even  the  riots,  which  break  out  from  time  to 
time,  in  which  foreign  property  is  destroyed  and 
the  lives  of  teachers  are  menaced  or  lost,  are  no 
real  indication  that  the  Chinese  people  decline 
enlightenment  and  a better  civilization.  On  the 


2S4 


CHINA’S  STORY 


contrary,  the  real  reason  for  mob  violence  in 
China  is  the  same  as  in  Japan  before  1868.  The 
object  is  to  embroil  the  government  with  the  treaty 
powers,  so  that  the  Manchu  rule  at  Peking  may 
be  overthrown  and  the  people  be  benefited.  How- 
ever blind  or  foolish  they  may  be  who  choose 
such  a method  to  improve  their  condition,  the 
real  reason  for  these  outbursts  of  popular  violence 
is  not  what  the  foreigner,  who  at  once  seeks 
money  or  vengeance,  is  apt  to  imagine. 

The  real  danger  now  before  the  Chinese  is, 
that  in  their  eagerness  to  adopt  the  best  that  the 
world  can  offer,  they  will  fail  to  understand  the 
true  principles  that  underlie  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, and  will  accept  a travesty  or  distortion  of 
them.  Hence  the  determination  of  leading  men 
in  Great  Britain,  Canada,  and  the  United  States 
to  establish  at  a central  point  in  China,  probably 
Chang  Sha,  a great  university,  that  shall  affiliate 
with  it  the  various  foreign  schools  and  colleges 
now  on  the  soil.  The  plan  is  to  have  hostels,  in 
which  the  particular  theory  or  principles  of  each 
sect  or  denomination  may  be  taught,  while  the 
central  university  shall  be  devoted  to  pure  sci- 
ence and  the  highest  order  of  instruction. 

In  political  matters,  steady  progress  has  been 
made.  Imperial  princes  have  traveled  abroad. 
Various  commissions  have  been  sent  out  by  the 
Peking  government  to  study  the  armament,  re- 
sources, and  methods,  but  especially  constitu- 


AWAKENED  CHINA 


285 


tional  history  and  procedure  of  Western  nations. 
Eminent  men,  both  Chinese  and  Manchu,  have 
repeatedly  visited  the  Western  countries,  mak- 
ing special  investigations,  — educational,  military, 
naval,  judicial,  political,  and  economic.  While 
thus,  in  vital  contact  with  the  great  nations, 
China  is  acting  out  her  own  proverb,  “ The  aged 
must  learn  from  the  younger,”  there  is  growing 
up  in  Hawaii  and  the  United  States  a generation 
of  children  born  of  Chinese  parents,  who  will  be 
Americans,  and,  in  spite  of  the  barbarians  in  our 
own  land,  they  will  help  to  lead  China  into  the 
world’s  brotherhood.  The  system  of  provincial  as- 
semblies has  already  been  established,  but  the 
eager  reformers,  who  are  in  haste  to  have  a na- 
tional legislative  assembly  which  has  been  pro- 
mised by  the  imperial  decree,  have  been  disap- 
pointed by  repeated  postponements,  — as  was  the 
case  in  Japan,  from  1868  until  1889.  A parlia- 
ment in  China  means  the  transfer  of  their  power 
by  the  Manchus  to  the  people.  One  sign,  trivial 
to  us,  but  deeply  significant  to  the  Chinese  peo- 
ple, is  the  choice  of  a propitious  day  (January  30, 
1911),  when  Chinamen  all  over  the  world  were 
permitted  and  encouraged  to  cut  off  their  queues 

— first  the  badge  of  conquest  and  then  of  loyalty 

— and  thus  wear  their  hair  like  civilized  male 
humanity. 

The  “ Yellow  Peril  ” is  the  nightmare  of  the 
guilty  and  the  selfish  in  the  Occident,  but  the 


286 


CHINA’S  STORY 


Chinese,  confronted  by  multiplying  dangers  from 
the  “White  Peril,”  have  strenuously  resisted  the 
importation  of  opium  and  prohibited  its  growth  at 
home,  with  results  that  are  hopeful. 

At  the  death,  in  1908,  of  the  empress  dowager, 
or  Holy  Mother,  preceded  the  day  before  by  the 
decease  of  the  young  emperor,  there  was  a great 
display  of  the  paraphernalia  of  woe  and  the  elab- 
orate apparatus  for  confusing  and  keeping  off  the 
evil  spirits.  This  was  probably  the  last  of  the 
great  spectacular  funerals,  requiring  millions  of 
dollars  for  display,  besides  heavy  drafts  necessary 
for  the  expenses  of  the  journey  to  Mukden,  in 
Manchuria ; all  of  which  has  to  be  paid  for  in 
taxation  by  the  common  people. 

In  the  development  of  communications,  China 
has  gone  ahead  rapidly.  Her  purpose  is  to  keep 
in  her  own  hands  tl^e  control  of  railways  and 
telegraphs,  to  build  them  as  far  as  possible  with 
her  own  money,  or  to  borrow  from  foreign  nations 
in  such  a way  as  not  to  tie  her  own  hands,  and  to 
educate  her  own  sons  to  be  the  surveyors,  road- 
builders,  engineers,  and  railway  managers.  Al- 
ready Chinese  students,  educated  abroad,  have 
surveyed,  built,  and  maintained  creditable  rail- 
ways. The  main  line  between  Peking  and  Kalgan, 
opened  in  1910,  was  constructed  solely  by  Chinese 
labor,  under  the  sole  direction  of  Chinese  engi- 
neers. The  purpose  is  to  have  trunk  lines  from 
Canton  to  Peking,  and  through  the  great  valleys 


AWAKENED  CHINA 


287 


of  the  empire,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  where 
nature  has  already  furnished  natural  highways, 
along  which  the  engineering  difficulties  will  be 
least.  One  great  line  is  planned  also  northwest- 
ward through  Mongolia.  Other  lines  will  connect 
westward  with  the  Russian,  in  the  southwest  with 
the  British,  and  in  the  south  with  the  French 
roads,  in  Siberia,  India,  and  Annam  respectively. 
The  comparative  ease  and  thoroughness  with 
which  educated  Chinese  have  already  constructed 
and  equipped  railroads  excites  the  surprise  of 
British  and  American  engineers.  In  telegraphy, 
the  “lightning  threads,”  as  the  natives  call  the 
wires,  traverse  and  are  being  spread  all  over  the 
empire.  In  the  large  cities  telephones  are  no 
longer  luxuries,  but  necessities. 

The  coal  of  China  probably  equals,  in  its  pos- 
sible workable  supply,  all  the  rest  of  the  world’s 
store,  and  the  iron  is  situated  near  the  coal.  In 
some  places  the  houses  are  built  against  the  great 
black  strata,  which,  visible  at  the  surface,  show 
by  their  weathering  that  this  fuel  has  been  ex- 
posed for  thousands  of  years  without  being  used. 
As  the  power  of  Pittsburg  to  produce  steel  altered 
the  economic  complexion  of  the  world  and  dictated 
history,  so  now  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  are  able 
to  produce  and  lay  down  pig  iron  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  farther  east,  more  cheaply  than  it  can 
be  made  in  America,  marks  the  beginning  of  an- 
other economic  revolution.  In  other  branches  of 


288 


CHINA’S  STORY 


enterprise  the  Chinese  are  moving  forward,  build- 
ing and  working  their  own  weaving  and  spinning 
mills  for  the  production  of  textile  fabrics  in  cot- 
ton, woolen,  flax,  and  hemp.  American  finance 
is  aiding  in  the  railway  development  of  China. 
In  a few  years,  however,  Asia  will  be  econom- 
ically and  industrially  independent  of  Europe. 

While  many  nations  have  helped  in  opening 
China,  to  whom  is  due  the  greater  credit  of  open- 
ing the  Chinese  heart?  In  linguistic  scholarship 
and  mastery  of  the  languages  of  Asia,  geograph- 
ical exploration,  and  penetrating  statecraft  by  the 
men  in  their  superb  civil  service,  of  which  Ma- 
cartney, Elgin,  Parkes,  Satow,  Aston,  Wade,  Hart, 
Parker,  and  many  others  are  shining  examples, 
the  British  have  excelled.  Of  all  living  writers 
Professor  E.  H.  Parker  has  in  his  books  given  us 
the  most  comprehensive  idea  of  the  Chinese,  an- 
cient and  modern.  Americans,  led  by  Dr.  Arthur 
H.  Smith,  have  striven  to  understand  the  mind  and 
open  the  heart  of  the  Ear  Easterner.  Very  remark- 
able also  has  been  the  progress  made  by  Ameri- 
can women,  as  physicians,  artists,  and  friends,  in 
learning  the  true  nature  of  Chinese  womanhood, 
and  the  real  worth  of  Manchu  ladies  of  the  court. 

By  invitation  of  the  empress  dowager.  Miss 
Katharine  A.  Carl  lived  some  months  in  the  im- 
perial palace,  while  painting  the  portrait  of  the 
empress  dowager,  which  the  imperial  lady  pre- 
sented to  the  American  people,  to  be  exhibited  at 


AWAKENED  CHINA 


289 


the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exhibition  at  St.  Louis, 
in  1906.  Professor  Headland  has  opened  for  us 
the  Chinese  child’s  world.  Mrs.  Conger,  wife  of 
the  American  minister,  not  only  received  audi- 
ence of  the  empress  dowager,  but  invited  to  her  own 
house  the  Manchu  princesses  and  Chinese  court 
ladies.  These  interchanges  of  courtesy  between 
women  reared  under  different  civilizations  are  as 
important  in  good  influence  as  trade,  battles,  or 
diplomacy,  for  by  them  the  way  is  prepared  for 
mutual  understanding  and  appreciation. 

The  “ Diffusion  Society  ” has  excelled  in  the 
intellectual  regeneration  of  China.  With  tons 
upon  tons  of  printed  matter  in  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage it  has  spread  all  over  China  a knowledge 
of  foreign  nations  and  their  great  men  and  women, 
and  the  wonders  of  history  and  science.  Whatever 
can  enlighten  a hermit  people,  such  as  the  Chinese 
long  were,  seems  to  have  been  attempted  in  print. 
Rev.  Young  J.  Allen,  scarcely  known  to  fame, 
gave  his  life  to  this  unique  work.  Such  men  as 
Williams,  Ashmore,  Martin,  Rockwell,  and  a host 
unnamed,  and  such  women  as  Miss  Field,  Mrs. 
Headland,  Mrs.  Little,  with  their  sisters  of  the 
pen,  have  published  the  truth  about  the  Middle 
Kingdom  and  her  people. 

Even  in  diplomacy,  Americans  have  long  striven 
to  understand  the  Chinese  and  to  apply  the  Golden 
Rule.  In  1899,  Secretary  of  State  John  Hay  se- 
cured from  the  governments  of  Europe  and  J apan 


290 


CHINA’S  STORY 


an  agreement  to  respect  the  rights  of  China  and 
to  observe  the  principle  of  “ the  open  door  ” of 
welcome  and  equality  of  opportunity  to  all  nations. 
At  the  opening  of  the  war  in  1904,  through  Mr. 
Hay’s  insistence,  both  Russia  and  Japan  agreed 
to  restrict  the  field  of  hostilities  and  to  maintain 
the  integrity  of  China. 

Those  who  understand  the  Chinjse  heart  and 
have  sincere  sympathy  — the  key  to  interpreta- 
tion — will  make  the  best  conquest  of  China.  Of 
no  nation  or  people  can  it  be  said  more  truly  than 
of  those  who  strive  to  gain  victory  over  the  Chi- 
nese, — 

“ Who  overcomes  by  force 
Hath  overcome  but  half  his  foe.” 

China  will  in  the  long  run  wear  out  and  over- 
come every  conqueror  that  tries  to  conquer  her 
people. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


china:  a republic 

To  preserve  the  life  of  the  oldest  of  nations,  the 
time  had  come  when  in  China  men  must  shorten 
their  hair  and  women  lengthen  their  feet. 

Both  of  these  old  fashions,  of  queues  and  of 
bound  feet,  were  symbols  — the  one  of  a political, 
the  other  of  a domestic  form  of  slavery.  China’s 
vital  needs  were  a keener  sense  of  personality  in 
the  individual,  more  cohesion  in  the  bod  ^ politic, 
and  a living  faith  in  the  unity  of  law  and  its  Crea- 
tor. In  order  to  survive,  the  commonwealth  must 
take  on  the  features  of  a modern  state.  Race  pride 
must  become  patriotism.  Without  these  changes, 
China  could  not  live. 

Would  the  necessary  transformation  come 
through  evolution,  or  by  revolution?  After  seon- 
old  adherence  to  civic  order,  would  this  new  free- 
dom to  man  and  woman  be  abused,  or  would  it 
tend  to  a larger  life? 

China’s  back  must  be  turned  upon  other  things, 
besides  the  three-century-old  badge  of  conquest 
imposed  by  the  Manchus  on  the  head  of  the  males 
and  the  token  of  social  slavery  fastened  by  imme- 
morial fashion  upon  the  feet  of  women,  if  a mod- 
ern society,  able  to  compete  with  western  nations. 


292  CHINA’S  STORY 

or  even  with  its  next-door  neighbor,  Japan,  were 
to  be  built  up. 

All  true  progress,  through  adoption  of  what  is 
apparently  new,  springs  from  a deeper  insight  and 
clearer  apprehension  of  what  is  old  and  tried. 
This  is  the  truth  underlying  the  myth  of  the 
“Golden  Age,”  which  stagnant  nations  locate  in 
the  past.  Returning  to  pre-ancient  principles,  the 
Chinese  must  drop  medieval  forms  of  ancestor 
worship,  study  birth  control,  in  plants,  animals, 
and  men,  and  make  selection  of  the  better  ele- 
ments for  the  improvement  of  life  in  all  its  forms. 
They  must  seek  for  quality,  instead  of  quantity  or 
numbers,  in  the  household,  the  country’s  popula- 
tion, the  soil,  and  the  products  of  the  earth,  air, 
and  sea.  The  powers  of  nature  must  be  tamed  and 
harnessed  to  the  service  of  man  and  the  newer  in- 
ventions and  material  forces  of  the  West  must  be 
adopted.  China  must  face  the  logic  of  facts  in 
that  industrial  revolution  which  has  affected 
every  civilized  nation.  She  must  seek  for  unity, 
bury  her  interminable  intestine  quarrels,  strip  the 
military  province  governors  of  their  power,  and 
wdn  the  confidence,  even  as  she  now  has  the  sym- 
pathy, of  foreign  nations. 

To  effect  these  beneficent  results,  the  putting 
on  of  a new  mind  is  of  far  more  importance  than 
wealth  of  material.  It  was  the  changed  mental  at- 
titude and  interior  intellectual  preparation,  even 
more  than  the  external  impact,  that  made  the 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


293 


New  Japan.  China  has  the  capacity.  Her  need 
is  of  the  new  spirit  and  outlook. 

In  attempting  to  interpret  the  past  and  fore- 
cast the  future,  we  must  look  first  at  agriculture 
and  the  soil;  for  these  together  form  the  founda- 
tion of  all  wealth.  Yet  although  the  Chinese  have 
been  “farmers  for  forty  centuries’’  they  have  neg- 
lected two  relatively  modern  and  vitally  pro- 
gressive ideas.  The  first  is  the  proper  selection  of 
seeds.  The  second  is  the  combating  and  control 
of  both  parasites  and  the  diseases  of  plants  and 
animals. 

In  very  recent  years  these  principles  in  the  mod- 
ern colleges  on  the  soil  of  China  have  been  grasped 
and  put  into  effect.  They  open  a new  era  of  Chi- 
nese agriculture,  improving  while  increasing  the 
yield.  With  afforestation  of  the  bare  hills  and 
proj>er  engineering  for  the  guidance  of  her  rivers 
and  water  fiow,  the  famines,  that  have  so  long 
aflflicted  and  desolated  China,  will  have  become 
the  forgotten  episodes  of  history  — recalled  only 
by  the  inquiring  scholar.  China  is  not  over-popu- 
lated, except  in  the  river  valleys.  The  opening  of 
her  mines  and  underground  resources,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  manufactures  will  re-distribute, 
beneficially,  the  whole  nation.  There  are  too  many 
farmers  and  not  enough  diversified  industries. 

The  China  that  has  been  thus  far  able  to  sur- 
vive all  changes  and  persist  through  the  ages  is  the 
resultant  of  many  minds  and  the  human  toil  of 


294 


CHINA’S  STORY 


mind  and  body  of  pre-ancient  time,  of  the  re- 
corded centuries,  and  of  recent  years,  when  altru- 
istic aliens  in  China’s  harvest  field  gave  mind,  life, 
and  health  to  “bind  the  same  sheaf.”  The  creation 
of  modern  China  is  the  work  of  innumerable  men 
and  women,  known  and  unkno'^m.  To  neither 
alien  nor  native  is  the  credit  wholly  due,  either  for 
accomplishment  or  for  hope.  Philosophy  and  ed- 
ucation turn  sight  into  insight,  interpret  phenom- 
ena, save  man  from  stagnation,  prevent  society 
from  relapse,  and  keep  the  lamp  of  promise  brightly 
burning. 

Besides  illustrating  the  principle  that  all  true 
progress  springs  from  a deeper  apprehension  of 
what  is  old  and  tried,  it  is  well  for  both  native  and 
alien  to  note  that  China  herself  has  in  large  meas- 
ure furnished,  in  the  person  of  her  own  philoso- 
phers, the  new  mind  which  fits  the  common- 
wealth for  wholesome  change.  Given  the  needed 
stimulus  from  without,  the  reinforced  Chinese 
need  hardly  go  very  far  beyond  their  own  re- 
sources for  mental  equipment.  Confucius  did  in- 
deed teach  a system,  of  thought  and  of  conduct, 
expressed  chiefly  in  etiquette,  that  has  most  ad- 
mirably formed  the  culture  of  a fourth  of  the  hu- 
man race.  In  its  various  interpretations  and  rep- 
resentations, it  has  aided  Korea,  Japan,  and  the 
nations  of  eastern  Asia  in  their  onward  march. 

Beside  that  reconstruction  of  Chinese  thought 
which  was  noticed  in  Chapter  XII,  the  new  man 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


295 


with  the  new  mind  appeared  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury (1472-1528),  in  the  person  of  Wang  Yang 
Ming,  who  elaborated  a philosophy,  not  of  forms 
and  ceremonies  only,  or  a culture  based  wholly  on 
things  human  and  earthly.  Wang,  cultivating  the 
intuitional  method,  taught  men  to  look  within  and 
find  the  Source  of  all  power.  Those  who  would 
study  Wang’s  system  of  thought  in  his  writings, 
must  read  his  book^ ; but  those  who  wish  to  see  it 
developed  in  a body  of  culture,  interpreted  in  ac- 
tion and  its  fruit  visible  in  signal  results,  must 
turn  to  modern  Japanese  history.  The  makers  of 
the  New  Japan,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  prob- 
ably without  a single  exception,  were  disciples  of 
Wang  Yang  Ming  (in  Japanese,  Oyomei). 

Wang  suffered  the  usual  fate  of  seers  and  proph- 
ets, even  to  detraction,  punishment,  and  exile,  but 
was  restored  to  honor;  his  teaching  won  favor 
and  large  acceptance,  and  after  his  death  he  was 
canonized.  His  vision  and  teachings  have  had 
much  to  do  with  the  recasting  of  modern  Chinese 
thought,  the  making  of  China’s  new  mind,  the 
overthrow  of  popular  superstition,  the  galvanizing 
into  life  of  deadly  official  inertia,  and  the  creation 
of  the  New  China.  In  deepest  truth,  a plastic 
mind  was  vitally  necessary  to  meet  the  new  prob- 
lems confronting  so  old  a society,  because  of  the 
clash  with  western  ideas  and  methods. 

‘“The  Philosophy  of  Wang  Yang  Ming,”  by  F.  G.  Henke,  Chicago,  1916, 
and  “ The  Japanese  NaUon  in  Evolution,”  by  W.  E.  Griffis,  New  York,  1907. 


296 


CHINA’S  STORY 


TIic  frequent  seizures  of  China’s  territory,  after 
aggressive  wars,  so  appalling  to  the  Chinese,  fol- 
lowed logically  a dogma  which  was  rejected  by  the 
United  States,  even  from  colonial  beginnings. 
This  arose  from  the  doctrine  of  Church  and  State, 
begun  by  Charlemagne  and  the  pope  in  A.D. 
800,  which  developed  into  the  conceptions  of 
“Christendom”  and  “heathendom”;  by  which,  in 
the  fifteenth  centurj%  the  world  was  divided  by  the 
papacy  into  halves  and  given  to  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal. 

By  further  logical  evolution,  the  doctrine  in 
statecraft  of  “the  balance  of  power”  was  elabo- 
rated. Under  this  ruling  idea,  the  conscience  of 
Christendom  was  debauched.  More  than  one 
“nation  of  shopkeepers,”  in  its  lust  for  land  and 
gold,  \drtually  eliminated  the  eighth  command- 
ment from  politics  — whenever  a weak  nation 
was  confronted  by  one  with  superior  power.  “ Un- 
der all  diplomacy,  there  must  be  a solid  substra- 
tum of  force,”  became  the  guiding  motto  not  only 
of  Sir  Rutherford  Alcock,  the  British  minister  to 
Jaj>an  in  1863  and  in  China  from  1865  to  1871,  but 
of  others.  Such  a doctrine  was  totally  opposed  by 
so  successful  a diplomatist  as  Townsend  Harris. 

In  view  of  the  historic  facts  patent  to  the  world 
during  and  after  the  Boxer  uprising  and  the  subse- 
quent diplomacy,  the  Government  at  Washington, 
in  1908,  notified  Peking  that  it  would  cancel  all 
claims  for  further  indemnity  and  return  what  had 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


297 


been  already  paid,  provided  that  the  money  thus 
released  should  be  used  for  the  education  of  Chi- 
nese youth  in  the  United  States. 

This  beneficent  arrangement  — the  logical  fol- 
lowing out  of  the  time-honored  conviction  and 
policy  of  the  American  people  — again  challenged 
the  dogmas  and  reversed  the  record  of  the  Old 
Worlds  even  though  “Christian.”  Whereas,  papal, 
imperial,  and  royal  Europe  — the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  with  Pope,  King,  'Czar,  and  Kaiser  — 
made  it  a dogma,  of  both  Church  and  State,  that 
Asiatic  and  uncivilized  nations  existed  to  be  ex- 
ploited or  conquered,  the  creed  and  practice  of  the 
United  States,  from  the  beginning,  has  been  that 
these  people  were  to  be  helped,  healed,  taught,  and 
uplifted.  President  Washington  declared  that  the 
blessings  which  we  as  a nation  enjoyed  were  to  be 
shared  by  others. 

Under  this  arrangement,  about  twelve  hundred 
Chinese,  young  men  and  women,  have  been  edu- 
cated, or  are  in  American  colleges.  They  are 
chosen  after  competitive  examinations  — nearly 
all  the  girls  being  daughters  of  Christian  pastors. 

It  is  now  time  to  look  at  China  as  a republic.^  Is 
it  a name  only?  Or,  has  there  been  a real  trans- 
formation? 

When  at  the  inevitable  fall  of  the  Ta  Tsing,  or 
Great  Bright  dynasty  of  Manchu  emperors,  China 

^ For  a fuller  account,  see  the  author’s  articles  on  China  in  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Americana,  1920. 


298 


CHINA’S  STORY 


became  a republic,  the  movement,  as  in  Japan’s 
revolution  of  1868,  was  largely  one  of  students  and 
“intellectuals,”  the  mass  of  the  people  being  but 
slightly  enlightened  or  interested.  New  Japan 
arose  out  of  an  agglomeration  of  feudal  units. 
China,  that  had  aboHshed  feudalism  over  two 
thousand  years  before,  was  a conglomerate  of 
many  countries,  races,  provinces,  and  communi- 
ties, with  few  elements  of  political  cohesion  or 
powers  of  articulation,  though  the  social  and  cul- 
tural bond  was  strong.  The  Chinese  were  illy  fit- 
ted either  to  become  a true  nation  or  to  form  a 
modern  government.  Though  the  name  of  a re- 
public might  be  chosen  and  even  the  American 
idea  of  a striped  fiag  — significant  of  federal  union 
and  the  equality  of  each  province,  large  or  small, 
in  the  national  legislature  — yet  for  the  multitu- 
dinous units  of  local  freedom,  there  were  few  ele- 
ments of  vital  political  union.  One  thinks  rather 
of  a boneless  giant  or  a monstrous  jellyfish  — an 
organism  with  only  the  smallest  degree  of  articula- 
tion. There  existed  an  enormous  mass  of  popula- 
tion below  and  the  few  agitators  and  leaders 
above,  but  the  great  middle  term  of  a politically 
intelligent  public,  which  only  education  and  ex- 
perience could  slowly  supply,  was  lacking. 

The  most  formidable  obstacle  to  concentration, 
unity,  or  harmony,  however,  lay  in  the  racial, 
mental,  and  economic  diversity  between  the 
North  and  South  — such  as  Americans  with  civil 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


299 


war  memories  ought  to  be  able  to  understand  with 
some  degree  of  sympathetic  clearness.  The  men 
of  the  two  sections  are  as  different,  in  origin  and 
temperament,  as  may  well  be  conceived,  even 
though  called  by  one  name  and  nominally  of  one 
race.  One  thinks  of  the  Celto-Frankish  and  Teu- 
tonic peoples  and  their  age-old  wars,  'fhe  south- 
ern Chinese,  in  origin,  are  largely  of  Malay  de- 
scent, interested  in  the  sea  and  accustomed  to 
spread  into  other  countries.  The  Northern  Chi- 
nese are  of  Tartar  and  Manchu  descent  and  men  of 
interior  land  interests.  In  physical  appearance, 
in  mental  processes,  and  in  economic  interests, 
the  men  of  these  sections  are  almost  as  two  na- 
tions. The  bond  of  the  Chinese  empire  or  republic 
is  not  political,  but  is  almost  wholly  social  and  one 
of  culture. 

A full  understanding  of  this  fundamental  fact 
furnishes  a key  to  the  events  following  the  death 
of  the  young  emperor  in  1908  and  that  of  the 
famous  empress  dowager  soon  after,  and  the  re- 
gency of  the  reactionary  Prince  Chun.  The  un- 
fulfilled promises,  of  a representative  government 
and  a modern  constitution,  provoked  open  rebel- 
lion, which  was  led  by  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  a south- 
ern Chinese,  a Christian  and  a man  of  cosmopoli- 
tan culture.  Opposed  to  him,  in  the  north,  arose 
Li  Hung  Chang’s  pupil  and  successor,  Yuan  Shi 
Kai,  of  whom  we  heard  in  Korea. 

Again,  as  in  the  Japan  of  1868,  the  southerners 


300 


CHINA’S  STORY 


were,  in  the  main,  men  of  progressive  mind,  stu- 
dents, or  those  who  had  been  abroad  or  under 
foreign  teachers.  The  northerners,  as  a rule,  were 
the  conservatives,  holding  to  the  old  monarchical 
forms  and  traditional  ideas.  In  a large  sense,  here 
was  a struggle  of  democracy  and  new  ideas  against 
aristocracy  and  tradition.  There  were  great  eco-^ 
nomic  factors,  also,  which  influenced  the  estrange- 
ment of  these  two  sections. 

The  revolution,  which  started  in  1910,  in  Can- 
ton, spread  rapidly  through  the  southern  prov- 
inces and  there  was  some  flghting  in  1911;  in 
which  year  a republic  was  proclaimed,  with  Wu 
Ting  Fang,  former  Chinese  minister  at  Washing- 
ton, leading.  Sun  Yat  Sen,  after  Yuan  Shi  Kai  had 
declined  the  offer,  was  provisionally  made  presi- 
dent. In  February,  1912,  the  boy-emperor  abdi- 
cated, the  monarchists  acknowledged  the  Repub- 
lic, and  a Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
were  formed.  WTien  the  members  of  this  Congress 
met  in  Peking,  in  1913,  most  of  them  were  clad  in 
foreign  costume.  The  People’s  Party  (Kuo-ming 
Tang)  and  the  southern  Chinese  dominated  the 
situation.  In  a joint  session  of  the  two  houses. 
Yuan  Shi  Kai  was  elected  president  and  Li  Yuan 
Hung  vice-president. 

To  foreign  observers  familiar  with  Yuan’s  career 
in  Korea,  such  a choice  was  ominous  for  republi- 
can government.  Having  a military  education, 
never  out  of  Asia,  and  saturated  with  imperialism. 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


301 


Yuan  could  not  brook  the  interference  of  a legisla- 
ture. His  methods  for  ridding  himself  of  critics, 
rivals,  and  enemies  were  those  of  the  firing  squad 
and  the  executioner’s  axe.^  He  filled  the  offices 
with  his  friends  and  tools  and  when  the  Congress 
made  protest.  Yuan,  on  November  4, 1913,  ordered 
the  People’s  Party,  after  branding  its  members  as 
rebels,  to  be  dissolved.  This  left  the  Congress 
without  a quorum  and  the  southern  provinces 
without  representation.  Yuan  and  the  northern- 
ers were  now  in  supreme  power. 

At  Canton  the  discredited  legislators  formed  a 
government  under  the  leadership  of  Sun  Yat  Sen. 
Later,  Li  Yuan  Hung  was  chosen  president. 

China  was  now  in  civil  war.  Roughly  speaking, 
the  North  was  militaristic  and  the  South  republi- 
can. Yuan,  having  abolished  the  Congress,  now 
surpassing  the  example,  his  model,  of  the  Tai  Wen 
Kun  of  Korea,  aspired  to  the  throne.  On  Decem- 
ber 12,  1915,  he  proclaimed  a monarchy  and  fixed 
the  date  of  his  coronation  for  the  following  Febru- 
ary. 

The  death  of  Yuan  Shi  Kai,  on  June  15,  1916, 
simplified  the  situation,  but  one  more  attempt  was 
made  to  restore  the  Manchu  monarchy,  on  July  1, 
1917,  the  boy-emperor  reigning  only  six  days.  The 
marching  of  provincial  armies  towards  Peking 
caused  a change  and  the  Congress  again  as- 
sembled on  the  basis  of  the  constitution  of  1912, 


* See  the  author’s  article  oa  Yuan  Shi  Kai  in  the  North  American  Review. 


302 


CHINA’S  STORY 


and  in  August  proceeded  to  form  a new  constitu- 
tion; but  the  age-old  quarrels  of  North  and  South 
continued.  In  August  of  the  next  year,  1918,  Hsu 
Shi  Chang  was  chosen  president  to  serve  until  1923. 

Just  when  wise  men  saw  national  bankruptcy 
approaching  and  no  outlet  to  their  troul^les,  the 
armistice  in  Europe  seemed  to  open  a way  to 
unity.  At  Shanghai,  in  the  foreign  settlement,  the 
northerners  and  southerners  met,  hoping  to  agree; 
but  after  months  of  debate,  failed.  Meanwhile 
Japan  profited  by  the  situation  to  strengthen  her 
power  in  China  in  every  way.  Political  disintegra- 
tion increased.  The  Anfu  club  was  pro-Japanese 
and  strongly  militaristic  in  sentiment.  The  Chili 
group  trusted  more  to  a peaceful  policy.  Both 
were  in  the  North,  but  in  1920,  the  two  factions 
came  to  blows  in  Peking.  The  Anfu  men,  being 
beaten,  fled  for  shelter  to  the  Japanese  legation* 
The  Chili  faction  was  now  uppermost. 

In  the  south  also,  the  splitting  process,  on  ac- 
count of  quarrels  which  were  largely  over  distribu- 
tion of  spoil,  went  on.  The  game  seemed  to  be  one 
for  money  and  power,  patriotism  being  more  of  a 
theory  than  of  actual  practice.  The  armies  were 
personal,  rather  than  national,  or  even  provincial, 
though  in  total  these  bodies  of  mercenaries  num- 
bered over  a million.  Thus  China’s  resources  were 
wasted. 

Through  all  these  turnings  and  overturnings, 
Japan  hoped  and  waited  for  a united  China  in  full 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


303 


sovereignty;  for  such  a happy  condition  of  things 
would  add  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  the  island 
empire,  which  had  become  an  industrial  nation, 
depending  in  the  main  on  China  for  raw  materials. 
If  Japanese  gold  has  been,  as  so  often  alleged, 
used  politically  in  China,  it  has  been  to  secure 
some  sort  of  stable  government.  For  no  other 
nation  has  been  so  wounded  with  that  weapon 
which  the  Chinese  are  past  masters  in  wielding  — 
the  boycott.  In  no  instance  did  Japan,  in  pride, 
prestige,  and  prosperity,  suffer  more  than  when, 
after  the  publication  of  the  twenty-one  demands, 
the  Chinese  boycott  was  applied  so  vigorously 
that  the  government  in  Tokyo  withdrew  the  Fifth 
or  most  infamous  group. 

On  May  7,  1915,  the  Japanese  ultimatum  con- 
cerning Kiauchau  was  served.  After  four  months 
of  delay,  China,  hoping  for  help  from  some  or  all 
of  the  Occidental  nations,  which  did  not  come, 
yielded  and  signed  the  agreement.  Though  the  at- 
titude of  the  United  States  restrained  the  aggres- 
sive spirit  of  Japan,  the  Lansing-Ishii  agreement 
recognized  Japan’s  ‘‘special  interests”  in  China. 

In  reality,  this  was  another  blunder,  significant 
of  the  temporary  reversal  of  American  policy.  It 
meant  the  shutting  of  the  “open  door.”  It  par- 
alleled the  mistake  of  a former  administration  in 
giving  Japan  “a  free  hand  in  Asia”  — which  re- 
sulted in  hauling  down  the  stars  and  stripes  in 
Korea,  calling  home  the  American  legation,  and 


304 


CHINA’S  STORY 


leaving  our  interests  to  the  mercies  of  the  Prus- 
sianized militarists  of  Japan,  who  promptly  made 
conquest  and  extinguished  the  sovereignty  of 
Korea,  a nation  with  a noble  history.  It  is  not  at 
all  improbable  that  if  the  Washington  government 
had  remained  firm  in  upholding  our  treaty  with 
Korea,  Japan  would  not  have  broken  hers,  and 
embarked  on  her  bumptious  career  in  Asia. 

Happily  the  results  of  the  Washington  Confer- 
ence of  1921  were  to  ignore  and  abolish  the  “spe- 
cial interests”  of  any  one  nation  in  China,  to  reaf- 
firm the  doctrine  of  the  “Open  Door”  and,  impli- 
citly, to  end  European  conquest  in  Asia.  In  May, 
1922,  the  Japanese  signed  the  Shantung  agree- 
ment. 

Again  in  1922,  civil  war  broke  out,  in  the  con- 
flicts between  the  armies  of  General  Wu  Pei,  re- 
presenting the  Peking  Government,  and  General 
Chang  Tso  Lin,  whose  retreat  beyond  the  Great 
Wall  and  reported  purpose  were  to  found  an  in- 
dependent republic  in  Manchuria  and  Mongolia. 

China’s  vital  problem  is  to  establish  on  a sure 
and  lasting  basis  the  supremacy  of  one  central  gov- 
ernment over  the  constitutionally  limited  sove- 
reignty of  the  provinces,  without  destroying,  but 
rather  confirming  the  powers  of  both  in  harmony. 
This,  the  only  system  of  federal  government  that 
can  operate  over  a vast  territory,  has  been  dem- 
onstrated to  be  possible  in  the  United  States  of 
America.  To  this  living  model,  true  patriots  in 


CHINA:  A REPUBLIC 


305 


China  look  with  ever  brightening  hope,  while 
wrestling  manfully  with  the  problem.  At  two 
conventions,  one  political  and  the  other  religious, 
held  in  China  in  the  early  summer  of  1922,  living 
issues  were  discussed  with  insight,  ability,  and  in- 
vincible faith  in  a better  China  to  come.  In  the 
one  case  federal  union  of  all  the  provinces,  after 
the  American  model,  in  the  other  the  formation 
of  one  Chinese  Christian  church,  independent  of 
foreign  control  was  the  theme.  In  both  conven- 
tions was  the  conviction  that  in  great  China  as 
in  the  case  of  other  nations,  large  and  small, 
“Union  makes  strength”  — the  secret  of  long  life 
for  nations. 

Meanwhile,  as  in  the  same  field  in  which  grow 
wheat  and  tares,  the  forces  of  education,  enlight- 
ened economics,  altruism  and  Christianity  are 
energizing,  along  with  those  of  waste  and  hate  — 
some  for  the  barn  and  others  for  the  burning  — 
in  the  shaping  of  a new  China.  There  are -those 
still  toiling,  even  as  nearly  a century  ago  did  the 
American  pioneer  educators.  In  the  time  of  the 
fulness  of  their  labors,  the  author  of  this  book 
talked  with  many  of  them,  as  neighbors,  friends, 
and  fellow  workers.  They  cherished  the  hope,  as 
do  those  who  still  toil  in  altruism,  that  “ the  re- 
generation of  China  will  be  accomplished  like  the 
operation  of  leaven  in  meal,  without  shattering 
the  vessel.” 

So  the  Master  taught. 


i.-:  '•  f-dl- 


'!O';1^0it^f^  ihT 

iiif  <!t*‘-  •'■’v^^ih'  4 ffffvSi'vi  'nf,’-^ 

'i'^llll  -^ '»'>  ’,  ' '^1  -J.^1.  tf*‘.;K»  Ut>^^^t^,,,i^f'Ai6^  ,-  • ' .'  • iM 
it  4' ^'1■3i d>  ' ,-i^ 


^k  . I *:  \ ,i  c . 1'Jii i'^  *^* 

wi-^,  ■ " Is  ^■‘■>-“  " ' • ■'  ■ ^ 

• it^\'  V =,j  !*•'■  *ii  I'hj ;v^,  •ivf)(‘v!  ^ ^ 


■ |Ar  • ■* 

'■'*  K.,^  - 


'■  v.r’.'Hi;  Jt»'^f'«i»  "<^^uj|  rt‘  ’ 'Uf',%( 

iktt  H 't  •'  " ^’■'4t  t<;.  > ' 'ii-ii'  , 


r.y 


;;  . ‘ r r ’'V.‘-'^  / ‘ 


* •L'i  j-v/-*  Tf 


OUTLINE  OF  CHRONOLOGY 

THE  DYNASTIES 


fe  CO 

Name 

Number  o 

Sovereign 

. 

Begin- 

ning 

End 

Length 

AGE  OF  MYTHOLOGY  AND  LEGEND 


The  Age  of  the  Five  Rulers  . 

9 

B.  c.  2852 

B.  c.  2205 

647 

Hia  Dynasty 

17 

2205 

1766 

439 

Shang  or  Yin 

28 

1766 

1122 

644 

SEMI-HISTORICAL  PERIOD*.  1122-770  B.  C. 
THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM  : 770-209  B.  C. 


Chow 

34 

1122 

255 

867 

ERA  OF  CENTRALIZATION 

Tsin,  or  Chin 

5 

255 

206 

49 

Han,  Former  Han, or  Western 

Han 

14 

206 

A.  D.  25 

231 

Later  Han,  or  Eastern  Han  . 

12 

A.  D.  25 

221 

196 

PERIOD  OF  DISUNION 

The  Three  Kingdoms  . 

11 

221 

265 

44 

Western  Tsin,  or  Chin  . . . 

4 

265 

317 

52 

Eastern  Tsin,  or  Chin  . . . 

11 

317 

420 

103 

308 


CHINA’S  STORY 


OUTLINE  OF  CHRONOLOGY— 


Name 


Q 

'A 


W 


n 

H 

O 

A 


DIVISION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  INTO  NORTH  (TARTARS, 
AND  SOUTH  (CHINESE) 


Sung 

58 

9 

A.  D.  420 
420 

A.  D.  589 
479 

169 

59 

Chi,  or  Tsi 

7 

479 

502 

23 

Liang 

6 

502 

557 

55 

Chen • 

5 

557 

589 

32 

Northern  Wei 

15 

386 

535 

149 

Western  Wei 

3 

535 

557 

22 

Eastern  Wei 

1 

534 

550 

16 

Northern  Chi 

7 

550 

589 

39 

Northern  Chow 

5 

557 

589 

32 

PERIOD  OF  RECONSOLIDATION 


Sui 

4 

589 

618 

29 

Tang 

22 

618 

907 

289 

PERIOD  OF  MILITARY  SUPREMACY 


The  Five  Dynasties  .... 

13 

907 

960 

53 

Later  Liang 

2 

907 

923 

16 

Later  Tang 

4 

923 

936 

13 

Later  Tsin 

2 

936 

947 

11 

Later  Han 

2 

947 

951 

4 

Later  Chow 

3 

951 

960 

9 

OUTLINE  OF  CHRONOLOGY 


309 


OUTLINE  OF  CHRONOLOGY  — Continued 


2 
o ^ 
o 

n 

Name 

P 

S § 

Q 

^z; 

Eh 

O 

A.  D.  960-1280 : THE  EMPIRE  DIVIDED  BETWEEN 
TARTARS  AND  CHINESE 


Liao  (Ki-tau) 

9 

A.  D.  907 

A.  D.  1125 

218 

Western  Liao 

5 

1125 

1168 

43 

Kin  (Nu-chen) 

10 

1115 

1260 

145 

Sun^ 

9 

960 

1127 

167 

Southern  Sung 

9 

1127 

1280 

153 

THE  MONGOL  SUPREMACY 


Yuan  (Mongol) 

9 

1280 

1368 

88 

Ming 

17 

1368 

1644 

276 

THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST 

Tsing 

10 

1644 

Portuguese  in  China  . . . 

1511 

British  Wars 

1840 

1861 

French  War  ...... 

1884 

War  with  Japan 

1894 

1895 

Boxer  Riots 

1900 

Russo-Japanese  War  . . . 

1904 

1905 

310 


CHINA’S  STORY 


OUTLINE  OF  CHRONOLOGY— 

THE  REPUBLIC 

1910.  Promise  of  the  Throne  to  form  a Cabinet  and  summon  a 
National  Assembly  in  1914.  Sun  Yat  Sen  and  the  South- 
ern Provinces  revolt. 

1911.  National  Assembly  opens  in  Peking. 

February,  1912.  The  Emperor  abdicates.  Yuan  Shi  Kai  presi- 
dent of  the  provisional  government.  Formation  of  a 
government  in  Canton.  Civil  war. 

1913.  Congress  meets  in  Peking.  Yuan  Shi  Kai  chosen  presi- 
dent. 

1914.  Yuan  Shi  Kai  dissolves  the  Congress. 

1915.  Constitutional  monarchy  proclaimed.  Coronation  of 
Yuan  Shi  Kai  fixed  for  the  coming  February.  Revolt  in 
Yunnan.  Japan  presents  her  twenty-one  demands,  fol- 
lowed by  ultimatum. 

1916.  Yuan  after  usurpation  surrenders  civil  authority  to  the 
Cabinet.  Canton  government  formed.  China  with  two 
presidents  and  two  governments.  The  boycott  against 
Japan.  Death  of  Yuan  Shi  Kai.  Reconvening  of  the 
Congress  in  Peking. 

1917.  The  boy-emperor  reinstated.  Reign  of  six  days.  The 
Lansing-Ishii  agreement. 

1918.  Hsu  Shih  Chang  President,  to  serve  until  1923.  Two 
Congresses  — at  Canton  and  Peking.  Failure  of  peace 
conference  at  Shanghai. 

1919.  Two  Northern  Factions,  Anfu  and  Chili. 

1920.  The  Anfu  and  Chili  factions  come  to  blows  in  the  capital. 
Split  in  the  Canton  group. 

1921.  The  Washington  Conference  reaflBrms  the  Open-Door 
principle  and  abolishes  American  recognition  of  “special 
interests”  in  Asia. 

1922.  Fighting  between  the  armies  of  Generals  Wu  Pei  and 
Chang  Tso  Lin.  All  modern  weapons  of  war  used.  The 
latter  retires  beyond  the  Great  Wall. 

Union  national  conventions  held. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abdication,  259. 

Abel  and  Cain,  100. 

Aborigines,  3,  34, 36,  37,  59,  66, 191, 
235. 

Actors,  162,  163. 

Acupuncture,  51. 

Adam  and  Eve,  4,  44. 

Admiral  Tang,  253. 

Admiral  Yu,  172. 

Ainu,  101. 

Allen,  Rev.  Young  J,,  289. 
Alliances,  266,  276. 

Allies  in  1900,  265-274. 

Alphabet,  127. 

Ament,  Dr.  W.  S.,  271. 

America,  159,  268-274. 

Americans  in  China,  195,  201,  210- 
213,  265-274. 

Amherst,  Lord,  195. 

Amoor  River,  149,  275. 

Amoy,  194,  200. 

Ancestors,  168, 173. 

Ancestor  worship,  61-65,  116,  140, 
168,  187. 

Ancestral  tablets,  116. 

Annam,  154,  243-245,  287. 
Anti-Christian  writings,  231,  248. 
Anti-foreign  riots,  230,  232. 

An  Tung,  276. 

Arabia,  163. 

Arabian  Nights,  163. 

Arabs,  39,  104,  143. 

Archery,  115,  117, 118, 153, 155,  211, 
212. 

Architecture,  168. 

Armies,  standing,  225,  226,  281. 
Armstrong,  Commodore,  211 
Army  reorganization,  281. 

Arrow  affair,  207-210. 

Art,  4,  5,  117-120,  128,  129,  130,  136, 
142,  168. 

Aryan,  127,  140. 

Association  of  ideas,  76, 196, 197. 
Astronomy,  55,  181,  182. 

Audience  question,  84, 85, 194, 198, 
233. 

Augustan  age,  125, 142. 

Austria,  265. 

Awakening  of  China,  229,  247- 
249. 

Aviation,  103, 130. 

Axes,  118, 119. 


Baikal,  149. 

Balance  of  power,  241. 

Baltic  fleet,  277. 

Bamboo,  133,  136, 154, 163, 168,  234. 
Bamboo  Grove,  80. 

Banishment,  39. 

Bank  notes,  7,  143. 

Banks,  143,  160. 

Barrier  forts,  211-214. 

Barriers,  87,  111,  203. 

Bayan,  General,  152. 

Beans,  31,  81. 

Beast  worship,  61,  94. 

Bell,  Admiral,  235. 

Bells,  66,  168. 

Benedict,  151. 

Binding  of  books,  136. 

Bismarck,  Prince,  241. 

Black  Flags,  244,  245. 

Blending  of  races,  42. 

Blessings,  the  five,  94. 
Blood-drinking,  113. 

Blue  gown,  145. 

Bogue  forts,  193,  210. 

Book  of  Odes,  73-80. 

Book  of  War,  123. 

Books,  136,  204. 

Boxer  riots,  125,  233-257. 

Boxers,  157,  261-274. 

Boys,  78. 

Break-up  of  China,  255,  256,  269. 
Brick  tea,  133. 

Bridge  of  wings,  106. 

Bright  dynasty,  176. 

Brooms,  115. 

Brown,  Rev,  S.  R.,  249. 

Bruce,  Sir  Frederick,  214. 
Buddha,  114. 

Buddha-garden,  157. 

Buddhism,  3,  37, 105, 106, 126-128, 
139-141,  163,  169. 

Buddhists,  9,  261. 

Burgevine,  222. 

Burial  alive,  167,  168. 
Burlingame,  Hon.  Anson,  229. 
Burma,  154,  183,  192,  243. 

Calendar,  53,  82, 181, 186. 
Cambodia,  154. 

Cambulac,  152. 

Camels,  30,  31. 

Camoens,  180. 


314 


INDEX 


Camphor,  234. 

Canals,  121,  168. 

('annon,  153,  157. 

Canton,  152,  180,  193,  194,  200,  213, 
286. 

Capitals,  78,  148. 

Carl,  INIiss  K.  A.,  288. 

Carpini,  151. 

Ca.ssiatree,  118,  119. 

Castles,  144. 

Catapults,  152. 

Categories,  94,  95. 

Cathay,  125,  158. 

Cavalrj',  147,  153,  218,  219. 
Celestials,  8. 

Ceramic  art,  134. 

Chaffee,  General  A.  R.,  268. 
Chang  Sha,  284. 

Characters,  written,  9,  10. 
Chariots,  51,  74,  79. 

Cheng  brothers,  138-140. 

Chili,  29. 

Chin,  72. 

China  and  Japan,  122, 170. 

China  for  the  Chinese,  157. 
China,  history'  of,  136. 

China,  isolatfon  of,  23-25. 

China,  names  of,  7,  8, 106, 145, 156, 
169  213  234. 

China,  spoliation  of,  255,  256,  260. 
Chinese,  characteristics  of,  2,  4, 
182,  183,  224. 

Chinese  Empire,  24-26,  170. 
Chinese  and  Tartars,  146-166. 
Chinese  in  America,  32,  249. 
Chinese  words,  196. 

Ching,  Prince,  272. 
Chino-Japanese  War,  83, 124,  249- 
254. 

Chow  dynasty,  68,  71. 
Christianity,  *126,  181, 187, 189, 199, 
200.  202-204,  220,  248, 262, 270, 273. 
Chu  Hi,  139-141. 

Chung,  General,  204,  225. 

Church  nation,  109,  242. 
Civilization  of  China,  2,  7,  14,  16, 
208. 

Clans,  63. 

Classes  of  society,  60. 

Classics,  67,  85,  110,  123,  133,  138, 
141,  167,  213. 

Clay  figures,  64. 

Climate,  145,  154. 

Clocks,  160. 

Clothes,  22,  145. 

Coal,  287. 

Cochin  China,  154. 

Cock  and  hen,  154. 

Cohong,  198. 

Coinage,  143,  279. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  152. 

Colors,  91,  94. 


Columbus,  158. 

Comedy,  163. 

Comets,  194,  195. 

Commercial  invasions,  233,  243, 
260,  263. 

Communalism,  54,  62. 

Compass,  106,  143,  160. 

Confession  of  sin,  110. 

Confucius,  6,  12,  77,  89,  108,  109, 
127,  135,  242. 

Confucianism,  139-142,  165. 
Conger,  Hon.  E.  H.,  269. 

Conger,  Mrs.,  289. 

Conservatives,  247-249,  258-260. 
Constitutions,  173,  285. 

Coolie,  196. 

Cormorants,  2. 

Cotton,  2,  144,  145. 
Counterfeiters,  143. 

Couperie,  Terrien  de  la,  42. 
Court,  124,  270,  289. 

Cranes,  142. 

Creation,  227. 

Crookedness,  86. 

Crops,  137. 

Cuba,  210. 

Currency,  143,  279. 

Cushing,  Hon.  Caleb,  201. 
Customs,  63. 

Customs  (revenue),  226,  229,  247. 
Czar,  150, 170. 

Dalny,  276. 

Daruma.  See  Dharma. 
Daughters,  78. 

Dead,  rites  for  the,  188,  286. 
Degrees,  202. 

Democracy,  63. 

Demons,  87. 

De  Quincey,  191. 

Dewey,  Admiral,  271. 

Dharma,  131,  132. 

Diagrams,  93. 

Dialects,  27. 

Dictionaries,  186. 

Diffusion  Society,  289. 

Dikes,  110. 

Diplomatic  relations,  190, 198, 214, 
218,  221,  273. 

Discoveries,  160. 

Dogmas,  82,  83. 

Domains,  59. 

Dominicans,  187. 

Dowager,  Empress,  236,  247,  270, 
286,  288. 

Dragon,  3,  12, 17-20,  55,  56,  90, 118, 
129,  130,  229,  246. 

Drama,  142,  162. 

Dreams,  56,  89,  202. 

Drought,  26,  66. 

Drugs,  119. 

Drum  and  cock,  49. 


INDEX 


31o 


Dual  sovereignty,  234,  239. 
Durgan,  Manchu  chief,  178. 
Dutch  in  China,  180,  181,  185. 
Dying  with  the  master,  63,  64. 
Dynasties,  172,  291,  292. 

Earthquakes,  156. 

East  India  Company,  194, 195, 198. 
Eclipses,  55. 

Economic  invasion,  233,  263,  287. 
Education,  258,  283,  286. 
Elements.  95,  96. 

Elephants,  154,  155. 

Elgin,  Lord,  214,  219. 

Elixir  of  life,  86,  120,  131,  141. 
Elliot,  Charles,  198. 

Embassies,  124,  185,  239. 
Embroidery,  40,  41. 

Emigrants,  8,  218,  220. 

Emperor,  57,  61,  65,  67,  108-110, 
122,  174,  175, 

Empress,  125,  170. 

Empress  Dowager,  236,  247,  257, 
259,  260,  286,  288. 
Encyclopaedias,  167, 186. 

English  in  China,  192-194. 

Ethics,  286. 

Etiquette,  12,  95,  182. 

Europeans,  179-183,  208,  209. 
European  civilization,  11,  284. 
Ever  Victorious  Army,  222,  223. 
Ever  White  Mountains,  174,  175. 
Evolution,  1-4,  28,  42,  245-247. 
Examinations,  110,247,248, 258, 273. 
Extra-territoriality,  194,  223. 
Eyes,  182. 

Face,  206,  207,  208,  209,  238,  242, 
280,  281. 

Factory,  194,  199,  210. 

Fairies,  104,  117-120. 

Fairy  tales,  5,  44,  56. 

Falconry,  2,  160. 

Family,  15,  60,  62,  187. 

Famine,  121. 

Fashion,  164. 

Feng-Shuey,  13. 

Feudalism,  67-72,  84,  150,  184. 
Fiction,  163,  164. 

Filial  piety,  15,  58,  59. 
Filibustering,  243. 

Fillmore,  President,  243. 

Finger  nails,  44. 

Fire  crackers,  2,  64,  65, 196. 

Fire  making,  45. 

Fishes,  136. 

Ihshing,  129,  130. 

Five,  in  categories,  94,  95. 

Flags,  12,  56,  193,  195,  207,  210,  211, 
212,  226,  227,  244,  245,  246,  267. 
Flax,  144. 

Flight  of  Tartar  tribe,  190, 191. 


Floods,  26,  28,  53. 

Flowers,  76. 

Folk-lore,  117-120,  128,  129,  164. 
Foo  Chow,  244,  246. 

Foot  binding,  3,  164,  165. 

Foote,  Captain,  211,  212. 

Foreign  devils,  180. 

Foreigners,  179-183,  189. 

Forest  of  Pencils,  125. 

Forests,  3,  25,  26,  145. 

Formosa,  181,  186,  234,  236,  241, 
245. 

Forts,  193,  200,  244,  245. 

Fortune  tellers,  92,  96,  97. 
Fortunes  in  America,  195. 

Foxes,  12, 

Franciscans,  187. 

Freedom  of  conscience,  227,  248. 
French  in  China,  213,  214, 219, 220, 
231-233,  242,  265. 

Fuel,  26. 

Fu  Hi,  4, 

Funerals,  64,  65,  286. 

Gamewell,  Rev.  F.  D.,  263. 
Gazette,  the  official,  125. 
Genealogy,  173, 

Genghis  Khan,  149-151,  158. 
George  III,  193. 

George  IV,  198. 

Germany,  182. 

Germans  in  China,  241,  270,  272. 
Giants,  46. 

Girls,  78,  282. 

God,  idea  of,  114, 138, 187. 

Gods,  4,  48,  65,  113,  114,  133. 

Gold,  38,  39. 

Goldfish,  136. 

Goose,  as  messenger,  40. 

Gordon,  General,  222-226. 

Gorges,  24,  27. 

Gourd,  128. 

Grand  Canal,  169. 

Grand  Khan,  146, 147, 154, 156, 158. 
Grand  Lama,  29,  192. 

Great  Britain,  241,  242,  276. 

Great  Wall,  150,  169, 189. 

Griffins,  197. 

Gunpowder,  160. 

Gurkas,  192. 

Gutzlaff,  Mr.,  209. 

Hair,  31,  66,  175-177,  182,  183,  203, 
223  282. 

Han  dynasty,  9,  98-100,  115,  131, 
162. 

Han-lin  Academy,  125. 

Hanoi,  243. 

Han  Sin,  98,  99. 

Hare,  118. 

Harem,  75, 121,  241. 

Harris,  Hon.  Townsend,  267. 


316 


INDEX 


Hart,  Sir  Robert,  226,  247. 
Hawaii,  195,  285. 

Hay,  Hon.  John,  269,  272,  289,  290. 
Head  gear,  31,  177,  183,  203,  223. 
Headland,  Professor,  289. 

Head  removal,  221,  22i. 

Head  hunters,  234,  235. 

Heaven,  138,  174,  187. 

Herd-boy  star,  106. 

Heroes,  43. 

Hia  dynasty,  9. 

Hideyoshi,  171,  172. 

Hindoos,  127,  131,  196. 

History  of  China,  136. 

Ho  jo,  154. 

Holland,  169. 

Honan,  148,  152. 

Honesty,  206,  209,  226. 

Hong  Kong,  201,  207,  220,  257. 
Horsemen,  146,  147,  149,  150,  164. 
Horses,  34,  38,  68,  146,  162,  179. 
Hospital  corps,  251,  ^2. 

Hucison,  Henry,  159. 

Hui,  243. 

Hungary,  151. 

Huns,  100,  102. 

Hurka  River,  175. 

Ideals,  43,  44, 106. 

Ideographs,  10. 

Idols,  197. 

Hi,  192,  228,  237. 

Illiteracy,  20. 

Imaginary  beings,  17-20,  89,  90-92. 
Imagination,  162-166. 

Immigrants  to  America,  32. 
Immortality,  120,  128,  131,  141. 
Imperialism,  84. 

Impersonality,  62. 

Incarnations,  141. 

Indemnities,  147, 148,214,  236,  237, 
245,  248,  273,  282. 

India,  105,  106,  161,  163, 168,  238. 
Indians,  175,  191,  192. 

Indigo,  145. 

Individualism,  62. 

Infants,  232. 

Insurrections,  178, 195. 
International  law,  84, 217, 236, 250, 
251,  267. 

Interpreters,  224. 

Iron,  287. 

Ironclads,  172. 

Islam,  113. 

Isolation  of  China,  23-25. 
Italians,  158, 159, 161, 163,  257,  265, 
270. 

Ito,  Prince,  240. 

Jade,  2,  117-120. 

Japan,  15,  69,  86,  122,  124,  132,  167, 
168,  169, 237-240,  242,  275-278, 279. 


Japanese,  15, 119, 152, 153, 161, 162, 
169,  249-254,  268,  269,  276-278. 
Japanese  art,  128, 129, 130. 
Japanese  smile,  64. 

Jealousy,  75,  102. 

Jesuits,  177. 

Joss,  14, 190. 

Journalism,  282,  283. 

Kabul,  149. 

Kai  Feng,  135,  147,  157,  205. 
Kalmuck  Tartars,  190, 191. 

Kang  Hi,  185,  186,  189. 

Kang  Yu  Wei,  257. 

Karakorum,  151. 

Keelung,  245. 

Kempff,  Admiral  Louis,  213,  266- 
267,  271,  272. 

Kiao  Chau,  257. 

Kidnapping,  210. 

Kien  Lung,  192. 

Kilin,  90. 

Kim  Ok  Kiun,  251. 

Kin  Tartars,  146-148,  149. 

Kites,  2. 

Ki  Tsze,  67. 

Know-Nothings,  Chinese,  261. 
Komura,  Baron,  280. 

Korea,  83,  121,  122,  124,  167,  169- 
172,  177,  230,  231,  237-239,  241, 
249-254,  278,  280. 

Koreans,  67,  68,  83,  153,  169-172, 
176. 

Kowlun,  220. 

Kow  Shing,  250. 

Kow-tow,  83,  185,  193,  218. 
Koxinga,  178,  181. 

Kublai,  152,  158,  171. 

Kuldja,  228,  237. 

Kum  Fa,  211,  212. 

Kung,  Prince,  219,  220,  221,  226, 
231. 

Kutub  Minar,  161. 

Kwang  Si,  236,  247,  257-269. 

Labor,  44. 

Lamaism,  141, 192. 

Land,  70,  71. 

Landscape,  24,  25. 

Lang,  Captain,  246. 

Langson,  243,  244,  245. 

Language,  22,  27,  49,  60,  62,  142; 
179. 

Lao-tse,  89, 141, 146. 

Latin  names,  6,  76. 

Laundry  men,  176. 

Law,  63,  199. 

Legations,  238,  263,  267,  270. 
Legendary  age,  49. 

Legge,  Dr.  J.  B.,  72,  73. 

Lemon,  133. 

Levant,  U.  S.  S.,  211. 


INDEX 


317 


Liao  Tung:,  121, 135, 173. 

Liao  Yang,  177. 

Libraries,  124, 125,  136, 167. 

Life,  value  of,  217. 

Lighthouses,  226. 

Lights,  38. 

Li  Hung  Chang,  205,  222,  224,  236, 
238,  240,  241,  248,  272. 

Lin,  Commissioner,  199. 

Linen,  144. 

Linguistics,  288. 

Litanies,  171. 

Literati,  84,  85,  88,  111,  112,  247. 
Literature,  54,  103,  135,  142,  162, 
167,  168. 

Livadia,  237. 

Loadstone  gateway,  87. 

Loess,  25. 

Lolos,  37. 

Longevity,  58,  120. 

Long-Haired  Rebels,  203, 206,  222. 
Loo  Choo,  18,  234, 236. 

Looms,  144. 

Looting  of  Peking,  272. 

Lost  tribes,  160. 

Lovers,  74. 

Loyalty,  71. 

“ Lusiad,”  the,  180, 

Macao,  177,  180,  181,  195,  199,  210. 
Macartney,  Lord,  193,  288. 
Magical  powers,  261,  262. 
Magnetic  needle,  105. 

Magnolia,  125. 

Magpie,  106,  174,  175. 
Mahometans,  9,  113,  160,  227,  228. 
Manchuria,  31,  32,  173-175,  276- 
278. 

Manchus,  31,  32,  67,  161,  173-188, 
280,  284,  285. 

Manchus  and  Chinese,  183, 184. 
IMandarin,  190. 

Mangu,  152. 

Man  in  the  Moon,  118. 
IVIanicuring,  44. 

Maps,  7. 

Marble,  168. 

Marco  Polo,  158,  160. 

Margary,  Mr.  A.  R.,  236. 
Marriage,  96,  134,  247. 

Mars,  52. 

Martin,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.,  77,  78. 
Masculine  principle,  120. 
Mathematics,  247. 

McCalla,  Captain,  264 
McKinley,  President,  272. 

]\Ieat  eating,  182. 

Medicine,  131. 

Memorials,  64,  225. 

Mencius,  6,  89. 

Merchants,  69,  184. 

Miao-tse,  191. 


Migrations,  30. 

Mikados,  120,  154,  159,  170,  171. 
Military,  138,  146-150,  173,  184. 
Milky  Way,  106,  107,  144,  166. 
Mills,  288. 

Ming  dynasty,  133,  143,  157,  167, 
178-180. 

Ming  Yong  Ik,  239. 

Missions,  181,  201,  222,  263,  268, 
283. 

Mob  violence,  231,  232,  284. 
Moguls,  161. 

Monasteries,  127. 

Money,  66,  143, 160,  279. 

Mongol  emperors,  141. 

Mongolia,  30,  31,  157,  287. 
Mongols,  126,  144,  146-166,  277. 
Monks,  131,  158. 

Moon,  56,  117-120,  165,  166. 

Moral  suasion,  184. 

Morality  plays,  164. 

Morning  glory,  234. 

Mothers,  52. 

Mountains,  130,  166. 

Mukden,  150,  173,  177,  276,  277, 
286. 

Mule,  128. 

Music,  51,  162,  168. 

Muslin,  144. 

Mythical  monsters,  3,  12,  89,  90, 
94. 

Mythology,  3,  12,  19,  20,  147. 
Myths,  5,  19,  20,  47. 

Nagasaki,  172. 

Names  of  China,  7,  8,  106, 145, 156, 
169,  213,  234. 

Names  of  families,  63,  156. 
Nankeen,  145,  148. 

Nanking,  139,  148,  149,  169,  200, 
204,  205,  222,  225. 

Napier,  Lord,  198. 

JC X20 

Nation,  the,  116,  172,  245,  246,  247. 
National  consciousness,  218,  246, 
247. 

National  legislature,  221,  285. 
Navy,  226,  245,  252. 

Nepaul,  192. 

Nestorians,  125, 126. 

Neutrality,  242. 

Newspapers,  282. 

New  York,  194. 

Ningpo,  180,  200,  223. 

Ninguta,  175. 

Nobility,  135. 

North  China,  8. 

North  East  Passage,  159. 
Northmen,  171. 

Novels,  39,  112,  162. 

Numerals,  91. 

Nursery  of  nations,  146. 


318 


INDEX 


Odors,  179,  182,  210. 

Ogotai,  151. 

Okiikura,  133. 

Okinawa,  234,  235. 

Okubo,  235. 

Opening  of  ports,  201. 

Oi)ium,  199,  200,  208,  210,  214. 
Oriental  civilization,  11. 
Orthodoxy,  109,  139-142. 

Ox-tail  banner,  149,  150,  152. 

Pageants,  114,  164. 

Pagodas,  2,  106,  127,  168. 
Painting,  136. 

Pan,  114. 

Panku,  4,  45,  46. 

Paper  money,  56,  160. 

I’aradise,  29. 

Parker,  Prof.  E.  H.,  36,  288. 
I’arkes,  Sir  Harry,  206-210,  219. 
Parliament,  285. 

Patriotism,  200,  218,  259,  260,  267. 
Peace  emblem,  49. 

Peach  Garden  Oath,  113. 

Peach  tree,  104. 

Pear  Garden,  162. 

I’earl  River,  244. 

Pearls,  52,  54,  56,  117. 

Pehtang,  215,  218. 

Pei-ho  River,  200,  214,  218,  265. 
Peking,  148,  157,  168,  178,  182,  189, 
190,  214,  263-273. 

Pelicans,  80. 

Pencils,  125. 

People,  “ the,”  70, 183. 

Perry,  Commodore  M.  C.,  216,  237, 

267. 

Persecution,  189,  227. 

Persia,  152,  163. 

Pescadores,  180. 

Peter  the  Great,  162,  189,  275. 
I’hiladelphia,  196. 

Philosophy,  19,  106,  134. 

Phoenix,  90,  91. 

Photographs,  231,  232,  248. 
Pictures,  137. 

Pilgrims,  105,  127. 

Ping  Yang,  68,  124,  172,  230,  252. 
I’iracy,  171,  195. 

Pittsburg,  287. 

I’lums,  75. 

Poe’s  Raven,  77. 

I’oetry,  73,  74,  76,  78,  80,  81,  107, 
119,  142,  166,  290. 

Policy  of  the  United  States,  266, 

268,  269,  272,  289. 

Policy  of  Russia,  275. 

Polk,  President,  201. 

Pongee,  31. 

Pope,  the,  151,  187. 

Poppy,  214. 

Population,  25,  26,  169. 


Populism,  137-139. 

Porcelain,  2,  104,  136,  160,  178. 
Port  Arthur,  241,  252,  257,  276, 
277. 

Port  Hamilton,  241. 

Portsmouth,  N H.,  278. 
Portsmouth,  U.  S.  S.,  211-213. 
Portuguese  in  China,  179, 180, 181, 

Position  of  woman,  75,  76. 
Possession  by  spirits,  61. 

Praise,  21. 

Prayer,  173. 

Prester  John,  160. 

Printing,  126,  160. 

Prisons,  199. 

Property,  54,  199. 

Proverbs,  114,  123,  137,  156,  188, 
285. 

Provincial  assemblies,  285. 

Public  school  army,  277. 

Public  schools,  283. 
l^blic  works,  138,  167-169. 
Ihinishments,  95,  103,  273. 

Queue,  2,  6,  31,  36,  175-177,  286 

Race  pride,  218. 

Railways,  13,  20,  21,  26,  233,  243, 
263,  275,  280,  286,  287. 

Rain,  18. 

Rat,  as  symbol,  79. 

Raven,  in  Chinese  poetry,  77. 
Reaction,  249. 

Rebels,  66. 

Red  Eyebrows,  110. 

Reformed  China,  12. 

Reforms,  12,  103,  245,  249,  257-259, 
281-288. 

Regis,  186. 

Reilly,  Captain,  274. 

Religion,  13,  60-62,  140. 
Revolution,  109. 

Rhetoric,  170. 

Rheumatism,  131, 132,  281. 

Rhine,  the,  148. 

Ricci,  181. 

Rice,  2,  263. 

Riots,  201,  248,  261-264,  282,  283, 
284. 

Riu  Kiu,  18,  234,  236. 

Rivers,  24. 

Rock  carvings,  127. 

Roger,  181. 

Roman  Catholic  missionc,  187, 
189,  231-233,  242. 

Roman  Empire,  102, 170. 

Romans,  151. 

Romances,  112,  142,  168. 

Root,  Hon.  Elihu,  272. 

Routes,  105,  143. 

Roze,  Admiral,  230. 


INDEX 


319 


Russia,  -jtS,  30,  39,  150,  151, 161,  162, 
190,  227,  257,  268. 

Russians,  30,  121,  185,  190, 214,  268, 
269. 

Russo-Japanese  War,  15, 121, 123, 
275-278. 

Sabbath  day,  118. 

Sacred  associations,  196, 197. 
Sacred  Edict,  186. 

Sacrifices,  68, 168. 

Saigon,  243. 

Sailors,  130. 

Samurai,  184. 

San  Ciano,  181. 

San  Jacinto,  U.  S.  S.,  211. 

Schall,  Adam,  185. 

Schools,  112. 

Sculpture,  142. 

Secret  societies,  156, 157, 176,  194, 
261. 

Seoul,  171,  237-239. 

Seymour,  Admiral,  264. 
Shamanism,  13,  86. 

Shanghai,  200, 201, 214, 220, 222, 251. 
Shang  Ti,  187. 

Shantung,  29,  149,  261,  262. 

She  King,  73. 

Sheep,  68. 

Shoes,  143. 

Shop  signs,  132. 

Shun,  5^54,  58. 

Sian  Fu,  270. 

Sikh  lancers,  218,  219. 

Silk,  2,  160. 

Silkworms,  31,  144. 

Silver,  143,  279. 

Sinim,  7. 

Slavery,  165,  167. 

Smith,  Rev  Arthur  H.,  288. 
Socialism,  137-140. 

Social  life,  73,  78,  134,  136. 

Social  system,  23, 122,  156. 
Soldiers,  184. 

Son  of  Heaven,  67, 169,  170. 
Sorcerers,  112. 

South  China,  8,  26,  41,  183,  186. 
South  Chinese,  183,  186,  203. 
Sovereignty,  208,  233. 

Spaniards  in  China,  180. 

Spirits,  possession  by,  61. 
Spoliation  of  China,  255,  256,  260. 
Squeezing,  198. 

Stars  and  Stripes,  195. 

Starry  Weaver  Maiden,  44. 
Steam,  145. 

Storks,  130. 

Story-telling,  163. 

Streets,  86. 

Students  in  Japan,  281. 

Students  in  America,  282,  286. 

Sui  dynasty,  117,  121. 


Summer  Palace,  219. 

Sung  dynasty,  135,  148, 152. 
Sungari,  175. 

Survev  of  the  empire,  186. 

Su  Wu,  40. 

Sycee,  143. 

Symbols,  164. 

Sze  Ma  Kwang,  136. 

Tablets,  64,  126,  168. 

Tai  Pings,  202-205,  222-225,  265. 
Taku  forts,  200,  214,  215-217,  218, 
262,  265,  266,  267,  273. 

Talien  Wan,  257. 

Tamerlane,  161 

Tang  dynasty,  8,  122,  123,  124,  125, 
165. 

Taoism,  128,  130,  131,  139, 140,  141. 
Tariff,  214. 

Tartars,  3.3-38,  100,  117. 

Tartary,  33. 

Taxation,  135,  137-139. 

Tea,  2,  130-133,  160,  194. 

Teak,  154. 

Telegraphs,  233,  244,  245,  246,  286, 
287. 

Telephones,  287. 

Temperaments,  95,  96. 
Temperance,  131. 

Temples,  4,  60. 

Tennyson,  8. 

Tenures  of  land,  70,  71. 

Theatres,  162,  163. 

Three  Kingdoms,  112,  113,  115. 
Tibet,  24,  29,  141,  192. 

Tibetans,  124,  125. 

Tides,  56. 

Tien  Tsin,  193,  205,  214,  220,  231, 
232,  235,  264,  266,  269. 

Tiger,  57. 

Tiles,  168. 

Tobacco,  132. 

Togo,  Admiral,  154,  250. 
Toleration,  159,  214,  220,  227,  248. 
Tombs,  95,  168. 

Tong  Haks,  250,  251. 

Tong  King,  243,  245. 

Tonsure,  176. 

Topknots,  176. 

Tortoise,  90,  91,  92. 

Trade,  192-195. 

Transmigration  of  souls,  141. 
Transmutation  of  metals,  38,  39, 
103,  104. 

Treaties,  201,  206,  214,220,236, 237, 
240,  243,  250,  252-254,  276. 
Tribute,  83,  154, 193,  200,  215. 
Tnith,  206,  207,  208,  224,  244,  279. 
Tseng,  Marquis,  244. 

Tsln  dynasty,  9. 

Tso,  General,  228. 

Tsung-li  Yamen,  221,  234,  267,  273. 


320 


INDEX 


Tsuruga,  280. 

Turkomans,  122, 124,  126. 

Turks,  30,  160. 

Types,  126. 

Unicom,  90. 

United  States  and  China,  195, 196, 
211-213,  266,  268,  269,  273. 

Unity  of  China,  84,  85  , 88. 
Universal  sovereignty,  234,  237, 
249,  251. 

University,  284. 

Uzum6,  91. 

Vassals,  83,  170,  171,  250. 

Verbiest,  Father,  185. 
Vladivostok,  280. 

Von  Ketteler,  Baron,  265,  273. 
Von  AValdersee,  Count,  272. 

"Wade,  Sir  Thomas,  237. 

"Wall,  the  Chinese,  85. 

Wan  Li,  181. 

Wang,  137. 

War,  184. 

War,  art  of,  123. 

Ward,  General,  222. 

Ward,  Hon.  J.  E.,  216,  218. 
Washington,  George, 266,  267, 271. 
Weaver  Maiden,  44, 106, 144. 
Weaving,  144. 

Weather,  95. 

Wei-hai-wei,  241,  252,  257,  270. 
Western  civilization,  160,  284. 
Western  Royal  Mother,  104,  118. 
West  India  Company,  195. 
Whampoa,  207. 

Whang-ho,  27,  28,  53,  65, 106,  110, 
148. 


Whang  Ti,  51,  52,  82,  91,  208,  234. 
Wheelbarrows,  115. 

White  Lily  Society,  156, 195. 
White  Peril,  286. 

Willamette,  211. 

Williams.  Dr.  S.  Wells,  272,  289. 
W'ine,  106. 

Winter,  145,  162. 

Witchcraft,  12,  61,  86. 

Wo  jin,  170. 

Woman,  75,  76,  115,  119,  127,  144, 
164,  165,  177,  188,  236,  288,  289. 

“ Woodman,  spare  that  tree,”  76 
Words  of  foreign  origin,  119. 
Worship,  60. 

Writing,  9,  10,  48,  91,  136. 

Wu,  iMinister.  268,  269. 

Wu  Ti,  103,  104. 

Xavier,  Francis,  181. 

Yakoop  Beg,  228. 

Yalu  River,  121,  252,  277. 
Yang-tse,  25,  169,  204,  205, 214,  222. 
Yao,  52-54. 

Yatoi,  161,  277. 

Yeh,  Commissioner,  207,  210,  212, 
213. 

Yellow  Emperor,  51,  52. 

Yellow  Peril,  286. 

Yellow  River.  See  Whang-ho. 
Yin  and  Yang,  93. 

Yoshitsun^,  150. 

Yu,  65,  66,  91. 

Yuan  dvnasty,  152, 153, 163. 

Yuan  Shi  Kai,  238,  281. 

Yung  Cheng,  190, 

Yung  Wing,  249. 

Yunnan,  104, 214,  227,  237,  243,  246. 


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